- Anna Haley-Lock
- March 2015
- CSPR-12-14-TC
- Link to CS-2012-2014-TC (PDF)
Because most parents of young children work for pay—nonresidential parents as well as residential parents, mothers as well as fathers—childcare costs and logistics constitute important considerations in determining appropriate child support orders. Wisconsin’s child support guidelines do not specify how childcare costs should be allocated between parents; instead they allow for a deviation from the guideline amount based on parents’ contributions to the financial costs of childcare. However, there is limited information available on how residential and nonresidential parents make childcare arrangements, nor if or how these arrangements are reflected in child support obligations. This report focuses on the non-monetary contributions by nonresident parents to childcare, including transporting children to and from childcare providers and providing care themselves, since these non-monetary supports, as well as financial support, may shape families’ decisions about and experiences with childcare in ways that diverge from decision-making within intact families.
Categories
Child Support, Child Support Policy Research, Early Childhood Care & Education, Education & Training, Guidelines, Orders & Payments