Child support is a difficult thing to track sometimes. The courts may not keep tabs on everyone, and honestly, how can they? There are some trends though that are quick to look at that can tell you a lot about the state of child support and divorce in this country. They can also be an eye opener and encourage you to do things the right way if you find yourself in the middle of this situation.
- 55 million parents in the US live apart and co-parent
- 39 million parents exchange child support and share expenses
- $990 billion is the estimated child support that is exchanged each year between parents
- 17.4% of custodial parents are fathers
- 82.6% of custodial parents are mothers
- 1.3 million new child support cases in the US every year
- Only about 50% of custodial parents work full time
- Only 42% of custodial mothers receive the full amount of alimony due them
- Only 34% of custodial fathers receive the full amount of child support due them
- Paying living expenses on time and consistently has a correlation to a more successful future for your infant.
- Interest is charged on past due child support, so you will end up paying more if you let your payments slip.
- It costs an average of $13,000 per year to raise a kid in the US
- The average child support payment is about $300 a month, which does not even come close to being half of the total cost of raising a infant.
- Income can be withheld from your paycheck at any time to alimony expenses. There does not have to be any unpaid support for that to happen.
- Child support can be drawn from your unemployment benefits, as well as your tax returns.
- The benefits of tracking kids expenses lead to good accounting, solid records, and documentation when needed for modification.
For more information on these facts see:
https://csdaca.org/outreach-education/facts-sheets/