We investigated the widely held premise that welfare participation causes women to refrain from marriage. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,219), we employed an event history approach to study transitions to marriage among mothers who have had a nonmarital birth. We found that welfare participation reduces the…

Some scholars have suggested that a negative consequence of strengthening child support enforcement is to encourage fathers to shift from regular sector to underground employment. We employ data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to investigate the relationship between the strength of child support enforcement (CSE) and levels of…

Public enforcement of private child support obligations transfers income from nonresident parents to resident parents (mostly mothers) or, if the mother is receiving welfare, to the state. This paper reviews and synthesizes existing literature on the effects of this transfer of income and presents new empirical evidence on the effects of stronger…

The unions of unwed parents are referred to as "fragile families" because they are similar to traditional families in many respects, but are more vulnerable. The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFS) is designed to study such families by following a new birth cohort of approximately 4,700 children, including 3,600 children…

Describes elements of Sweden's child support system, such as provisions relating to eligibility, benefits, absent parent liability, enforcement and financing. Analyzes the role of child support in the broader context of other kinds of aid to single-parent families. Considers prospects for child support reform in the United States. (Author)

Proposes a social child-support program based on taxes on earnings (deductions from wages) of absent parent rather than voluntary or court-determined payments enforced by law. Summarizes principal benefits of such a system and notes that proposed system is being tried out in several Wisconsin counties now. (CJM)