IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v88y2018icp490-496.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How accurate are imputed child support orders?

Author

Listed:
  • Plotnick, Robert D.
  • Kennedy, Alec I.

Abstract

Child support agencies face the challenging task of setting right-sized orders when the non-custodial parent's income cannot be ascertained through state or federal administrative records and the non-custodial parent is unwilling or unable to provide documentation of recent income. In these cases, child support agencies will often impute the non-custodial parent's income assuming their earnings are equal to those of someone who works full-time at the minimum wage. This study uses detailed earnings and hours worked data for employees in Washington state to assess how well this imputation matches the actual earnings of low-wage non-custodial parents. Our results reveal that this imputation would likely set orders that are too high or too low for the majority of non-custodial parents with no income information. The findings suggest the need for child support agencies to move away from a “one-size fits all” imputation approach and develop strategies to better monitor non-custodial parents to determine whether an order modification is necessary.

Suggested Citation

  • Plotnick, Robert D. & Kennedy, Alec I., 2018. "How accurate are imputed child support orders?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 490-496.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:88:y:2018:i:c:p:490-496
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.03.049
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740918300628
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.03.049?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maureen R Waller & Robert Plotnick, 2001. "Effective child support policy for low-income families: evidence from street level research," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(1), pages 89-110.
    2. David Neumark & DMark Schweitzer & DaWilliam Wascher, 2004. "Minimum Wage Effects throughout the Wage Distribution," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(2).
    3. J. Bartfeld & D. Meyer, "undated". "Are there really deadbeat dads? The relationship between ability to pay, enforcement, and compliance in nonmarital child support cases," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 994-93, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guarin, Angela & Costanzo, Molly, 2020. "Noncustodial fathers’ financial contributions to children in three-generation households," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    2. Kim, Yeongmin & Chung, Yiyoon, 2020. "Child support receipt among divorced mothers in Korea: Changes after the 2007 policy reform," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Vogel, Lisa Klein, 2020. "Help me help you: Identifying and addressing barriers to child support compliance," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    4. Lee, Daeyong & Weems, Carl F. & Rouse, Heather L. & Melby, Janet N. & Zhao, Feng & Bartel, Maya & Goudy, Kathryn, 2020. "Targeted child support enforcement and its association with child support payments: Evidence from a program evaluation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    5. Castillo, Jason T., 2009. "The relationship between non-resident fathers' social networks and social capital and the establishment of child support orders," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 533-540, May.
    6. Vogel, Lisa Klein, 2020. "Barriers to meeting formal child support obligations: Noncustodial father perspectives," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    7. Tomasz Grodzicki & Mateusz Jankiewicz, 2020. "Forecasting the Level of Unemployment, Inflation and Wages: The Case of Sweden," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 2), pages 400-409.
    8. Lv, Xueliang & Yu, Yue & Zhao, Xiaomeng & Si, Deng-Kui, 2023. "Minimum wage and household economic vulnerability: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 624-646.
    9. Mayneris, Florian & Poncet, Sandra & Zhang, Tao, 2018. "Improving or disappearing: Firm-level adjustments to minimum wages in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 20-42.
    10. Neumark David, 2019. "The Econometrics and Economics of the Employment Effects of Minimum Wages: Getting from Known Unknowns to Known Knowns," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 20(3), pages 293-329, August.
    11. Sumit Agarwal & Dan Aaronson & Eric French, 2008. "The Consumption Response to Minimum Wage Hikes," 2008 Meeting Papers 379, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    12. David Neumark & Olena Nizalova, 2007. "Minimum Wage Effects in the Longer Run," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(2).
    13. Jeffrey Clemens & Michael R. Strain, 2023. "How important are minimum wage increases in increasing the wages of minimum wage workers?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(4), pages 594-612, October.
    14. David Neumark & J.M. Ian Salas & William Wascher, 2013. "Revisiting the Minimum Wage-Employment Debate: Throwing Out the Baby with the Bathwater?," NBER Working Papers 18681, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Maria Cancian & Daniel R. Meyer & Robert Wood, "undated". "Final Impact Findings from the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED)," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 93c8996bb09444a292e2598d2, Mathematica Policy Research.
    16. Pierre Cahuc & Cette Gilbert & André Zylberberg, 2008. "Salaire minimum et bas revenus," Post-Print halshs-00638149, HAL.
    17. Gautier, Erwan & Roux, Sébastien & Suarez Castillo, Milena, 2022. "How do wage setting institutions affect wage rigidity? Evidence from French micro data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    18. Lechthaler, Wolfgang & Snower, Dennis J., 2008. "Minimum wages and training," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 1223-1237, December.
    19. Gregory, Terry & Zierahn, Ulrich, 2022. "When the minimum wage really bites hard: The negative spillover effect on high-skilled workers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    20. Philippe Askenazy & Eve Caroli & Jérôme Gautié, 2009. "Panorama des bas salaires et de la qualité de l'emploi peu qualifié en France," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00431170, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:88:y:2018:i:c:p:490-496. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.