[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pubeco/v164y2018icp183-196.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Parental responses to child support obligations: Evidence from administrative data

Author

Listed:
  • Rossin-Slater, Maya
  • Wüst, Miriam
Abstract
We study parental responses to child support obligations using rich administrative data from Denmark and variation in the child support formula. We estimate that a 1000 DKK ($160) increase in a father's obligation is associated with a 273 DKK ($45) increase in his payment. A higher obligation reduces father-child co-residence, pointing to substitution between financial and non-pecuniary investments. Further, obligations increase post-separation fertility among remarried fathers, but have no impacts on maternal fertility or either parent's labor supply. Our findings suggest that government efforts to increase child investments through mandates on parents can be complicated by their behavioral responses to them.

Suggested Citation

  • Rossin-Slater, Maya & Wüst, Miriam, 2018. "Parental responses to child support obligations: Evidence from administrative data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 183-196.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:164:y:2018:i:c:p:183-196
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.06.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272718301129
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.06.003?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 look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2013. "Optimal Taxation of Labor Income," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00944881, HAL.
    2. Flinn, Christopher J, 2000. "Modes of Interaction between Divorced Parents," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 41(3), pages 545-578, August.
    3. Mike Brewer & Anita Ratcliffe & Sarah dSmith, 2012. "Does welfare reform affect fertility? Evidence from the UK," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(1), pages 245-266, January.
    4. Gordon B. Dahl & Lance Lochner, 2012. "The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(5), pages 1927-1956, August.
    5. David H. Autor & Mark G. Duggan, 2003. "The Rise in the Disability Rolls and the Decline in Unemployment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 157-206.
    6. repec:cup:jdemec:v:81:y:2015:i:02:p:157-177_00 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Chiappori, Pierre-Andre & Iyigun, Murat & Weiss, Yoram, 2015. "The Becker–Coase Theorem Reconsidered," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(2), pages 157-177, June.
    8. Huang, Chien-Chung & Han, Ke-Qing, 2012. "Child support enforcement in the United States: Has policy made a difference?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 622-627.
    9. Cuesta, Laura & Cancian, Maria, 2015. "The effect of child support on the labor supply of custodial mothers participating in TANF," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 49-56.
    10. Schoeni, R.F. & Blank, R.M., 2000. "What Has Welfare Reform Accomplished? Impacts on Welfare Participation, Employment, Income, Poverty, and Family Structure," Papers 00-02, RAND - Labor and Population Program.
    11. H. Elizabeth Peters & Laura Argys & Heather Howard & J. Butler, 2004. "LEGISLATING LOVE: The Effect of Child Support and Welfare Policies on Father–child Contact," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 255-274, May.
    12. Jonathan Gruber & David A. Wise, 2004. "Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Micro-Estimation," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number grub04-1.
    13. Paul Bingley & Nabanita Datta Gupta & Peder J. Pedersen, 2012. "Disability Programs, Health, and Retirement in Denmark since 1960," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Historical Trends in Mortality and Health, Employment, and Disability Insurance Participatio, pages 217-249, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2006. "Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: Divorce Laws and Family Distress," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(1), pages 267-288.
    15. David W. Brown & Amanda E. Kowalski & Ithai Z. Lurie, 2015. "Medicaid as an Investment in Children: What is the Long-Term Impact on Tax Receipts"," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1979, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    16. Emmanuel Saez & Joel Slemrod & Seth H. Giertz, 2012. "The Elasticity of Taxable Income with Respect to Marginal Tax Rates: A Critical Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(1), pages 3-50, March.
    17. Slemrod, Joel B, 1985. "An Empirical Test for Tax Evasion," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(2), pages 232-238, May.
    18. Laroque, Guy & Salanié, Bernard, 2005. "Does Fertility Respond to Financial Incentives?," CEPR Discussion Papers 5007, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Jonathan Gruber, 2000. "Disability Insurance Benefits and Labor Supply," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(6), pages 1162-1183, December.
    20. Currie, Janet & Gruber, Jonathan, 1996. "Saving Babies: The Efficacy and Cost of Recent Changes in the Medicaid Eligibility of Pregnant Women," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1263-1296, December.
    21. Kelly Bedard & Olivier Deschênes, 2005. "Sex Preferences, Marital Dissolution, and the Economic Status of Women," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(2).
    22. Daniela Del Boca, 2003. "Mothers, fathers and children after divorce: The role of institutions," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 16(3), pages 399-422, August.
    23. Harry J. Holzer & Paul Offner & Elaine Sorensen, 2005. "Declining employment among young black less-educated men: The role of incarceration and child support," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(2), pages 329-350.
    24. Kevin Milligan & Mark Stabile, 2011. "Do Child Tax Benefits Affect the Well-Being of Children? Evidence from Canadian Child Benefit Expansions," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 175-205, August.
    25. Weiss, Yoram & Willis, Robert J, 1985. "Children as Collective Goods and Divorce Settlements," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 268-292, July.
    26. H. Elizabeth Peters & Laura M. Argys, 2001. "Interactions between Unmarried Fathers and Their Children: The Role of Paternity Establishment and Child-Support Policies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 125-129, May.
    27. Robert J. Willis, 1999. "A Theory of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(S6), pages 33-64, December.
    28. Kevin Milligan, 2005. "Subsidizing the Stork: New Evidence on Tax Incentives and Fertility," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(3), pages 539-555, August.
    29. Gruber, Jon & Saez, Emmanuel, 2002. "The elasticity of taxable income: evidence and implications," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 1-32, April.
    30. Gordon B. Dahl & Enrico Moretti, 2008. "The Demand for Sons," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(4), pages 1085-1120.
    31. Samara Gunter, 2013. "Effects of child support pass-through and disregard policies on in-kind child support," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 193-209, June.
    32. Del Boca, Daniela & Flinn, Christopher J, 1995. "Rationalizing Child-Support Decisions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1241-1262, December.
    33. Dan Black & Kermit Daniel & Seth Sanders, 2002. "The Impact of Economic Conditions on Participation in Disability Programs: Evidence from the Coal Boom and Bust," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 27-50, March.
    34. Richard B. Freeman & Jane Waldfogel, 2001. "Dunning Delinquent Dads: The Effects of Child Support Enforcement Policy on Child Support Receipt by Never Married Women," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(2), pages 207-225.
    35. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2012. "Optimal Labor Income Taxation," NBER Working Papers 18521, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Derek Neal, 2004. "The Relationship Between Marriage Market Prospects and Never-Married Motherhood," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(4).
    37. Anna Aizer & ASara McLanahan, 2006. "The Impact of Child Support Enforcement on Fertility, Parental Investments, and Child Well-Being," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 41(1).
    38. Maria Cancian & Carolyn J. Heinrich & Yiyoon Chung, 2013. "Discouraging Disadvantaged Fathers’ Employment: An Unintended Consequence of Policies Designed to Support Families," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 758-784, September.
    39. Roff, Jennifer & Lugo-Gil, Julieta, 2012. "A model of child support and the underground economy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 668-681.
    40. Maureen A. Pirog & Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, 2006. "Child support enforcement: Programs and policies, impacts and questions," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(4), pages 943-990.
    41. Larsen, Mona & Pedersen, Peder J., 2012. "Paid Work after Retirement: Recent Trends in Denmark," IZA Discussion Papers 6537, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    42. Martin Halla, 2013. "The Effect Of Joint Custody On Family Outcomes," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 278-315, April.
    43. Bratsberg, Bernt & Fevang, Elisabeth & Røed, Knut, 2010. "Disability in the Welfare State: An Unemployment Problem in Disguise?," IZA Discussion Papers 4897, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    44. McCrary, Justin, 2008. "Manipulation of the running variable in the regression discontinuity design: A density test," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 698-714, February.
    45. Justin Wolfers, 2006. "Did Unilateral Divorce Laws Raise Divorce Rates? A Reconciliation and New Results," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1802-1820, December.
    46. Douglas Almond & Maya Rossin-Slater, 2013. "Paternity Acknowledgment in 2 Million Birth Records from Michigan," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(7), pages 1-5, July.
    47. Moffitt, Robert A., 2002. "Welfare programs and labor supply," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 34, pages 2393-2430, Elsevier.
    48. Maria Cancian & Daniel Meyer, 2014. "Testing the Economic Independence Hypothesis: The Effect of an Exogenous Increase in Child Support on Subsequent Marriage and Cohabitation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 857-880, June.
    49. Daniela Del Boca & Rocio Ribero, 2003. "Visitations and Transfers After Divorce," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 187-204, September.
    50. Lenna Nepomnyaschy, 2007. "Child support and father-child contact: Testing reciprocal pathways," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(1), pages 93-112, February.
    51. Schoeni, R.F. & Blank, R.M., 2000. "What Has Welfare Reform Accomplished? Impacts on Welfare Participation, Employment, Income, Poverty, and Family Structure," Papers 00-02, RAND - Labor and Population Program.
    52. Shelly Lundberg & Elaina Rose, 2003. "Child gender and the transition to marriage," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(2), pages 333-349, May.
    53. Shelly Lundberg & Sara McLanahan & Elaina Rose, 2007. "Child gender and father involvement in fragile families," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(1), pages 79-92, February.
    54. Robert I. Lerman & Elaine Sorenson, 2003. "Child Support: Interactions between Private and Public Transfers," NBER Chapters, in: Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, pages 587-628, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fernández-Kranz, Daniel & Roff, Jennifer Louise & Sun, Hugette, 2018. "Can Reduced Child Support Make Joint Custody Bad for Children? The Role of Economic Incentives in U.S. Divorce Law on Child Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 12025, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Schaubert, Marianna, 2022. "Do courts know how to incentivize? Behavioral response of non-resident parents to child support obligations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    3. Hanno Foerster, 2019. "Untying the Knot: How Child Support and Alimony Affect Couples' Decisions and Welfare," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2019_115v2, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    4. Gunnsteinsson, Snaebjorn & Molina, Teresa & Adhvaryu, Achyuta & Christian, Parul & Labrique, Alain & Sugimoto, Jonathan & Shamim, Abu Ahmed & West, Keith P., 2022. "Protecting infants from natural disasters: The case of vitamin A supplementation and a tornado in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    5. Hanno Foerster, 2019. "The Impact of Post-Marital Maintenance on Dynamic Decisions and Welfare of Couples," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 982, Boston College Department of Economics.
    6. Hayley Fisher, 2017. "The Impact of Child Support on the Household Income and Labour Supply of Payee Lone Mothers," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 93(301), pages 189-213, June.
    7. Kranz, Daniel Fernández & Roff, Jennifer & Sun, Hugette, 2021. "Can economic incentives for joint custody harm children of divorced parents? Evidence from state variation in child support laws," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 1-27.
    8. Schaubert, Marianna, 2018. "Behavioral Response of Non-Resident Parents to Child Support Obligations: Evidence From SOEP," EconStor Preprints 203675, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

    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. Hanno Foerster, 2019. "Untying the Knot: How Child Support and Alimony Affect Couples' Decisions and Welfare," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2019_115v2, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    2. Schaubert, Marianna, 2022. "Do courts know how to incentivize? Behavioral response of non-resident parents to child support obligations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    3. Hanno Foerster, 2019. "The Impact of Post-Marital Maintenance on Dynamic Decisions and Welfare of Couples," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 982, Boston College Department of Economics.
    4. Anna Raute & Andrea Weber & Galina Zudenkova, 2022. "Can public policy increase paternity acknowledgement? Evidence from earnings-related parental leave," Working Papers 937, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    5. Huang, Chien-Chung & Han, Ke-Qing, 2012. "Child support enforcement in the United States: Has policy made a difference?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 622-627.
    6. Maya Rossin-Slater, 2017. "Signing Up New Fathers: Do Paternity Establishment Initiatives Increase Marriage, Parental Investment, and Child Well-Being?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 93-130, April.
    7. Schaubert, Marianna, 2018. "Behavioral Response of Non-Resident Parents to Child Support Obligations: Evidence From SOEP," EconStor Preprints 203675, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    8. Fisher, Hayley, 2015. "The Impact of Child Support Receipt on Household Income and Labour Supply," Working Papers 2015-20, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    9. Elaina Rose & Ho-Po Crystal Wong, 2014. "But Who Will Get Billy? The Effect of Child Custody Laws on Marriage," Working Papers 14-30, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    10. Hayley Fisher, 2017. "The Impact of Child Support on the Household Income and Labour Supply of Payee Lone Mothers," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 93(301), pages 189-213, June.
    11. Rose, Elaina & Wong, Crystal (Ho Po), 2014. "But Who Will Get Billy? The Effect of Child Custody Laws on Marriage," IZA Discussion Papers 8611, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Wolfgang Frimmel & Martin Halla & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2016. "How Does Parental Divorce Affect Children's Long-term Outcomes?," Working Papers 2016-13, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    13. Kristin Mammen, 2020. "Children’s Gender and Investments from Nonresident Fathers," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 332-349, June.
    14. Andrew Goodman-Bacon & Jamein P. Cunningham, 2019. "Changes in Family Structure and Welfare Participation Since the 1960s: The Role of Legal Services," NBER Working Papers 26238, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Samara R. Gunter, 2018. "Child support wage withholding and father–child contact: parental bargaining and salience effects," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 427-452, June.
    16. Bellido, Héctor & Marcén, Miriam, 2011. "Divorce laws and fertility decisions," MPRA Paper 30243, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Lindsey Rose Bullinger, 2021. "Child Support and the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid Expansions," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 42-77, January.
    18. Asakawa, Shinsuke & Sasaki, Masaru, 2022. "Can child benefit reductions increase maternal employment? Evidence from Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    19. Andreas Ravndal Kostol & Magne Mogstad, 2014. "How Financial Incentives Induce Disability Insurance Recipients to Return to Work," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 624-655, February.
    20. Leonard M. Lopoo & Kerri M. Raissian, 2014. "U.S. Social Policy and Family Complexity," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 654(1), pages 213-230, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Child support; Family; Divorce; Parents; Father involvement; Fertility; Labor supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

    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:pubeco:v:164:y:2018:i:c:p:183-196. 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/inca/505578 .

    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.