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Child Support Information

Facts and statistics about child support

As of September 2006, 105 billion in arrears has accumulated nationwide since the child support program began in 1975. (Source: Administration for Children & Families Report, The Story Behind the Numbers - Understanding and Managing Child Support Debt, May 2008.)
Most debtors owe small amounts of debt, but the bulk of child support debt is held by people who owe large amounts. About 65 percent of the national child support debt is held by the 20 percent of debtors who owe more than $20,000. (Source: Administration for Children & Families Report, The Story Behind the Numbers - Understanding and Managing Child Support Debt, May 2008.)
In fiscal year 2007, the federal Child Support Enforcement Program had a caseload of 45.8 million. The program collected nearly $25 billion. (Source: Child Support Enforcement Program Fact Sheet 2008.)
The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1994 that because the collection of child support results from a court order and not a consumer transaction, it does not fall under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. (Source: Mabe v. GC Services, 32 F. 3d. 86.)
In 2009, 41.2 percent of custodial parents received the full amount of child support owed them, down from 46.8 percent in 2007. (Source: Census Bureau, "Custodial Mothers and Fathers and their Child Support: 2009," released December 2011.)
A majority (83.2 percent) of the 5.9 million custodial parents due child support payments in 2009 had arrangements for joint child custody or visitation privileges with the noncustodial parents, not statistically different from the proportion who had such arrangements in 1993 (85.6 percent). (Source: Census Bureau, "Custodial Mothers and Fathers and their Child Support: 2009," released December 2011.)
In 2009, the 5.9 million custodial parents who were due child support under the terms of legal awards or informal agreements were due an annual average of $5,960, or approximately $500 per month. (Source: Census Bureau, "Custodial Mothers and Fathers and their Child Support: 2009," released December 2011.)

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ACA International ›Products & Services›Research & Statistics›Child Support Information

Child Support Information

Facts and statistics about child support

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