Volume 31, Number 4 (Fall) 1996
Knox, Virginia W. 1996. "The Effects of Child Support Payments on Developmental Outcomes for Children in Single-Mother Families." Journal of Human Resources 31(4):816-840.
Past research suggests that increasing the incomes of single mothers will bring intergenerational benefits. However, some sources of income may be more beneficial to children than others. This paper evaluates the effects of child support payments from absent fathers on children‘s achievement test scores and home environments, using three methods to control for heterogeneity among families. The results provide evidence that increased child support payments may improve the academic achievement of elementary school-age children even more than income from other sources. While overall family income appears to affect levels of cognitive stimulation available in children’s homes, child support does not have larger effects than other sources of income. These findings suggest that increasing the financial contributions of absent fathers through improved child support enforcement or other interventions may be a particularly beneficial income support strategy for children in single mother families.
Virginia W. Knox is a Senior Research Associate at Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation. The author would like to acknowledge Mary Jo Bane, David Ellwood, Christopher Winship, Douglas Staiger, Sara McLanahan, participants in seminars at the Malcom Wiener Center for Social Policy at Harvard University, participants at the 1992 APPAM conference, and three anonymous referees for helpful comments. The author is solely responsible for any errors or omissions. Any opinions expressed are the author’s and not those of MDRC. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning in February 1997 through January 2000 from the author at MDRC, 3 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016.
© 2002 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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