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I Garfinkel

Publications and source records attributed to I Garfinkel.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Deadbeat dads or inept states? A comparison of child support enforcement systems.

This article provides information on the effectiveness of state child support enforcement systems. We use individual level data from the Child Support Supplements of the Current Population Surveys (1978-1992) to create an index of state effectiveness that captures success at securing child support awards, setting award levels, and collecting obligations. We identify states that were performing above or below the national average in the late 1980s to early 1990s and states that showed substantial improvement or decline in child support effectiveness during the 1980s. Identifying successful states will help researchers to determine what policies and practices are associated with successful enforcement. These variations in state effectiveness also suggest that low levels of child support are not due to deadbeat dads alone but also to inept states.

Child↗
PubMed1996

Trends in child support outcomes.

This paper examines trends in child support award rates, award amounts, and receipts. We investigate four hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the downward trend in these outcomes during the 1980s: (1) changes in the demographic composition of the population eligible for child support, (2) increases in mothers' income, (3) decreases in fathers' income, and (4) inflation. Our results indicate that trends in nonmarital fertility can explain much of the decline in award rates. The steady downward trend in fathers' incomes during the 1980s also explains a considerable portion of the decline in award rates, award amounts, and receipts. Our results are also consistent with the notion that persistent money illusion is responsible for the decline in real child support awards.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[Children in single-mother families: economic insecurity and policy dilemmas].

"In the absence of government assistance, most mother-only families would be poor and economically insecure.... Government can reduce economic insecurity, but doing so will increase dependence on government....This creates a major dilemma for policy makers: whether to give priority to reducing economic insecurity or whether to give priority to reducing dependence and prevalence. In this paper we address key questions relevant to the dilemma: the extent of insecurity, dependence, and prevalence; the role of government in producing and maintaining all three; and the experience of single mothers and their children in the United States as compared to those in other advanced industrial nations.... Evidence from both international comparisons and American experience during the past 20 years indicates that a further reduction in welfare benefits will increase poverty and insecurity. Furthermore, the beneficial effects on dependence and prevalence are not likely to be great." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

Americas↗
PubMed1994

Child support orders: a perspective on reform.

This article presents a brief historical account of child support reform in the United States during this century. Reform in this area primarily reflects a shift from judicial discretion to administrative regularity. The two predominant types of child support guidelines in use today, income shares and percentage of income, are described and compared. The authors then present information on some of the current issues with regard to child support guideline reform. Finally, a Child Support Assurance system, which would provide a publicly guaranteed minimum benefit award to custodial parents under special circumstances, is proposed. Further discussion of child support reform is presented in the Overview and Analysis section of this journal issue.

Child↗
PubMed1993

Income growth among nonresident fathers: evidence from Wisconsin.

This study examines the changes over time in the personal incomes of nonresident fathers--whether divorced or nonmarital--in Wisconsin. Using data from the Wisconsin Court Record data base and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, the authors examine the incomes of these fathers over the first seven years following a divorce or the initiation of a paternity suit. They also study separately the income patterns of initially poor nonresident fathers and fathers whose nonresident children receive welfare. The most important finding is that the incomes of nonmarital fathers, which typically are low in the beginning, increase dramatically over the years after paternity establishment--often to a level comparable with the incomes of divorced fathers. On the basis of their findings, the authors conclude that failing to establish child support obligations for nonresident fathers simply because their incomes are initially low does not appear justified.

Divorce↗
PubMed1990

The growth of families headed by women: 1950-1980.

In recent decades, the number of families headed by women has increased dramatically. In this article, we use U.S. census data from 1950 to 1980 to consider the extent to which population growth, fertility change, decreased marriage, increased divorce, and increased household headship have contributed to the growth of female-headed families. For white women, the major source of growth during the 1960s and 1970s was an increase in the number of formerly married mothers due to increased divorce and decreased remarriage. There is a similar pattern for black women for the 1960-1970 period. During the 1970-1980 decade, however, the major source of growth for black women was an increase in the number of never-married mothers due to decreased marriage and increased fertility among nonmarried women.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Noncustodial fathers' ability to pay child support.

This article explores the extent to which noncustodial fathers can pay child support by estimating the income of noncustodial fathers and coupling these estimates with simulations of alternative normative standards for how much absent parents should be expected to contribute to the costs of rearing their children. The study indicates that the amount that is currently paid in child support ($6.8 billion in 1983) is far below the amount that should be paid under the various standards--from $24 billion to $29 billion.

Adolescent↗