Child Development

Joint custody has been linked to higher satisfaction with the custody arrangement in parents and better adjustment in children if it is self-
selected and parents are cooperative. (Bob Daemmrich, Stock Boston, Inc.)

Child Support

All states require that parents support their chil-
dren financially until they reach the age of majority
(age eighteen) and in some instances even longer if
the child has special needs. Noncustodial parents are
typically required to pay child support, whereas custo-
dial parents are presumed to fulfill their financial ob-
ligation through their daily care of the child. If
parents share physical custody, child support is based
on the percentage of time the child lives with each
parent and each parent’s income in relation to their
combined incomes.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement report-
ed that nearly ten million child support orders,
involving approximately twenty million children, ex-
isted in 1999. Enforcement of child support has be-
come a national concern, and many new enforcement
mechanisms exist to compel so-called deadbeat par-
ents to pay child support. Enforcement may include
seizure of property and tax refunds, the reporting of
nonpayment to credit bureaus, suspension of driver’s
and professional licenses, and imprisonment, fines,
or both. The most widely used and effective enforce-
ment tool is wage withholding by employers, a tool
used in 60 percent of such cases.

The receipt of child support has been linked posi-

tively to greater attainment of educational goals and

reductions in children’s behavioral problems. The

likelihood that fathers pay child support increases

with the amount of contact with the child. This does

not mean, however, that more contact causes higher

and more stable child support payments. A more like-

ly explanation is that greater parental commitment

causes both of these occurrences—regular and higher

child support payments as well as higher levels of con-

tact.

See also: DIVORCE; MEDIATION

Bibliography

Arditti, J. A., and T. Z. Keith. ‘‘Visitation Frequency, Child Support

Payment, and the Father-Child Relationship Postdivorce.’’

Journal of Marriage and the Family 55 (1993):699–712.

Kelly, Joan B. ‘‘Current Research on Children’s Postdivorce Ad-

justment: No Simple Answers.’’ Family and Conciliation Courts

Review 31, no. 1 (1993):29–49.

Maccoby, Eleanor E. ‘‘The Custody of Children of Divorcing Fami-

lies: Weighing the Alternatives.’’ In Ross A. Thompson, Paul

R. Amato eds., The Postdivorce Family: Children, Parenting, and

Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1999.

Maccoby, Eleanor E., Robert H. Mnookin, Charlene E. Depner,

and H. Elizabeth Peters. Dividing the Child: Social and Legal

CHILD CUSTODY AND SUPPORT 83