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1991.10.11 :  Child Support and Alimony

Contact:  Larry Dye (202) 401-9215
October 11, 1991

        HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., said today that
findings on child support released by the Department of Commerce,
"are a striking alarm for our children and our society."  The new
report, Child Support and Alimony: 1989, shows that in one decade
the number of women with children whose fathers were not living in
the household increased 39 percent, to 10 million in 1989. 
        "Having a child is a responsibility we cannot allow anyone
in this country to neglect.  Not living with one's children is no
excuse for ignoring the financial and emotional support that a
child needs to thrive," Sullivan said.  "Many of this country's
societal problems can be traced back to parents not supporting
their children."   
        Five million women surveyed were due to receive child
support payments.  Half received the full amount due, a quarter
received partial payment and a quarter received nothing.  The
average amount received was $2,995 a year.  Nationally, non-
custodial parents paid about $11.2 billion, or 69 percent, of the
$16.3 billion that they owed for child support.
         "In the absence of support from both parents, children
will find themselves disadvantaged through no fault of their own.
Vigorous action by all the partners in child support enforcement is

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key to meeting children's material needs,"  said Jo Anne B.
Barnhart, assistant secretary for children and families, and
director, Office of Child Support Enforcement.  "The child support
system must work even better if we are to keep up with the
essential need to improve the lives some children must endure."
      Of the women rearing children without the fathers in the
household, almost three million had never been married, more than
twice the 1978 number.  Only 24 percent of these mothers have
agreements or awards for child support as compared with a 72
percent award rate for women who have been married.  In addition,
the poverty rate for these never-married mothers is 53.9 percent,
as compared to 32.2 percent of all mothers in the survey.
      "Sobering information like this led Congress to pass the
stronger child support laws that states are implementing.  These
laws, if aggressively enforced, will make needed child support far
more certain in a child's life," said Barnhart. 
      Under the Family Support Act of 1988, use of child support
guidelines is required for all new or modified orders; immediate
wage withholding became effective in November 1990, and states will
soon be required to periodically review child support award
amounts, automatically in AFDC cases, or at the request of either
parent in non-AFDC cases.

      The report was sponsored jointly by the Commerce Department
and the Office of Child Support Enforcement in HHS' Administration
for Children and Families.


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