Understanding the Neighborhood Contexts of Custodial and Noncustodial Parents in the Child Support System

Megan Doherty Bea, Judith Bartfeld, and Alison Berube
December 2024
CSRA-2022-2024-T8
Link to CSRA-2022-2024-T8-Report (PDF)

Neighborhood contexts matter for a range of family well-being outcomes, including children’s social mobility and family economic well-being. We know relatively little about the neighborhoods in which Wisconsin custodial and noncustodial parents and children live, but we expect that these contexts may matter for the capacity to support children. This study examines the nature and potential child support implications of the neighborhood contexts of parents and children involved in the child support system. First, we examine the geographic proximity between custodial and noncustodial parents when child support is first ordered; the neighborhood characteristics of parent neighborhoods; and how close or far noncustodial parents live from the child support agency that services their case. Second, we examine how these neighborhood contexts are associated with child support compliance rates for the noncustodial parents, defined as the annual amount paid divided by the amount owed.

Using comprehensive administrative data from Wisconsin, we identify the parents of all nonmarital births in 2015 that have a formal child support order. Using address data from the time of the initial order, we identify the zip codes where custodial and noncustodial parents live and we link each parent to data related to the economic, demographic, and built environments of the zip codes in which they live. We first descriptively assess the neighborhood contexts of custodial and noncustodial parents. We then model the relationship between individual- and neighborhood-level characteristics, proximity between parents, and child support compliance rates one year following the order.

We find that noncustodial parent (NCP) fathers and custodial parent (CP) mothers live in neighborhoods that are broadly similar in terms of socioeconomic factors and the built environment. Compared to the state as a whole, NCP fathers and CP mothers live in neighborhoods that are more urban, less economically advantaged, more racially and ethnically diverse—consistent with high racial and ethnic diversity among the NCPs themselves—and vary both positively and negatively in terms of availability of a range of amenities. We also find that relatively high shares of CPs and NCPs experience at least one residential move to a new zip code within the first year of the order.

We find mixed relationships between neighborhood contexts and NCP child support compliance rates. After accounting for individual-level demographic and economic characteristics, we find that neighborhood amenities are not generally associated with NCP child support compliance rates, but better-resourced and higher-income neighborhoods are associated with higher compliance among non-Hispanic white fathers specifically. Living 50 miles or further from a child support agency is associated with lower compliance rates. Further, experiencing a residential move within the first year of the order is also associated with lower compliance rates.

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