- Maria Cancian and Daniel R. Meyer, with the assistance of Youseok Choi
- June 2006
- CSDE3-T-I
- Link to csde3-T-I (PDF)
We explore the effects of a full pass-through and disregard of child support payments on the marriage and cohabitation rates of mothers using data from the Wave 3 Survey of Wisconsin Works Families. Findings indicate that mothers who receive full pass-through and disregard are significantly less likely to cohabit with men who are not the father of their child(ren). The findings support the hypothesis that increased child support increases women’s economic independence, reducing their incentive to cohabit with men who are not the father of their children. We found no evidence of an increase in marriage rates for parents receiving a full pass-through and disregard.
Categories
Child Support, Complicated Families & Multiple-Partner Fertility, CSDE, CSDE Report, Family & Partnering, Multiple-Partner Fertility, Pass-Through & Disregard