Citation

Claessens E, Mortelmans D. Br. J. Sociol. 2021; 72(3): 829-844.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, London School of Economics and Political Science, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1468-4446.12823

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Nonresident mothers who formally pay child support are becoming increasingly prevalent. If the profile of female payers differs from that of men or if their payment is motivated differently, existing gender-based child support policies and enforcement strategies face significant challenges. This study uses the payment framework of male compliance to map the differences between male and female payers of child support. The analysis applies discriminant analysis to a combination of register and fiscal data of separated parents. Whereas the separate aspects of the payment framework did not reach the threshold for acceptable discrimination, the full model revealed considerable differences between male and female payers. The aspect of willingness to pay showed the greatest discriminating power, suggesting that paying mothers have a higher willingness to do so than fathers. We conclude that while the discrepancies between nonresident mothers and fathers who pay child support can be partly attributed to demographic differences and residency patterns of children, differing motivations are also of importance.

Keywords

child support; discriminant analysis; gender; nonresident parent; payment