Social scientists and policymakers have documented dramatic changes in the structure of US families over the past decades. In this paper, I analyze the child support compliance gap- the difference between expected payments and received child support payments- using a unique data set from the 1990-1993 SIPP on child support agreements. I explore the factors that determine the existence and the magnitude of a gap in payments using a probit model and regression analysis. Results suggest that both the existence of and magnitude of the child support gap are positively influenced by non-voluntary agreements received by the custodial parent.
child support; probit model; family economics
