The Role of Economic Resources and Remarriage in Financial Assistance for Children of Divorce

Abstract

Rarely can we view marital disruption and remarriage from the perspective of both exspouses despite the need to do so for understanding processes that leave many children without adequate support. Here, pairs of ex-spouses are tracked over time to observe the flow of resources from an absent father to his former family, how it shifts as the marital, economic, and geographic circumstances of the two ex-spouses change, and the extent to which it could be increased. This longitudinal view of the determinants of the flow is supplemented with a cross-sectional one. Although data limitations preclude definitive conclusions, the analysis suggests that remarriage by the custodial mother prompts sizable reductions in child support but remarriage by the absent father has no appreciable effect. Child support increases modestly with the absent father's income, but absent fathers tend to pay considerably less than maximal equitable levels of child support.