Toward a Fuller Understanding of Nonresident Father Involvement: A Joint Examination of Child Support and In-Kind Support Receipt

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Garasky, Steven B. Stewart, Susan D. Gundersen, Craig Lohman, Brenda J.
Copyright Year	2006
Abstract	Whereas less than half of all custodial parents receive child support payments, nearly 60% receive in-kind (i.e., noncash) support of some form. Based on a sample of children with nonresident fathers from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement, this study investigates the determinants of in-kind support receipt from nonresident fathers. Bivariate relationships indicate children from families that receive child support are more likely to receive in-kind support than children who do not. Additionally, children with more involved fathers as measured in terms of visitation quantity and quality are more likely to receive both child support and in-kind support. Multivariate analyses, however, show that the receipt of child support and in-kind support are not significantly related after controlling for other factors, and that visitation is associated with greater receipt of in-kind support, but not child support. The effects of visitation on in-kind support receipt vary by the aspect of visitation considered, by the type of in-kind support examined, and by the income level of the child’s household. Encouraging involvement by nonresident fathers in the lives of their children may have economic benefits but these benefits may be in the form of in-kind support rather than child support. Toward a Fuller Understanding of Nonresident Father Involvement: A Joint Examination of Child Support and In-Kind Support Receipt Over 21 million children live with only one of their biological parents, usually their mother, while their other biological parent lives elsewhere (Grall 2006). In response, social policy seeks to ensure that these children have the financial support of both parents (Office of Child Support Enforcement 2004). Generally, this financial support is measured through the payment of child support (Garasky et al. 2006). Evidence suggests, however, that some parents, especially low-income parents, use informal support arrangements including in-kind (i.e., noncash) contributions (Waller and Plotnick 1999) such as purchasing toys, school supplies or clothing for the child, or paying for a vacation for the child. Less than half of all custodial parents actually receive child support payments based on Current Population Survey data, but nearly 60% receive in-kind support of some form (Grall 2006). While these in-kind contributions add to the economic well-being of the child and the resident parent family, they are not recognized as meeting support obligations set through child support awards (Waller and Plotnick 1999). In addition, little research has simultaneously assessed the receipt of both child support and in-kind contributions. In this paper, we use nationally representative data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to investigate the determinants of in-kind support from nonresident fathers. Whereas the determinants of cash child support receipt have been studied in detail (e.g., Beller and Graham 1993; Garfinkel, McLanahan and Robins 2004; Garfinkel et al. 1998), much less is known about the provision of in-kind support in part because few national data sets ask about this form of support (Garasky et al. 2006). What is known about in-kind support receipt comes from studies of specific populations including fathers of children born to disadvantaged teenage mothers (Rangarajan and Gleason 1998), low-income families in specific cities and states (Edin and Lein 1997; Waller and Plotnick 1999), and African American fathers (Green and Moore 2000; Roy 1999). Although in-kind support is often provided in the context of visitation (e.g., Edin and Lein 1997; Rangarajan and Gleason 1998), studies examining nonresident fathers’ social involvement with children generally do not include this aspect of involvement (e.g., King, Harris and Heard 2004; Stewart 2003). This study advances our understanding of nonresident father involvement in several important ways. First, we jointly examine factors associated with the receipt of child support and in-kind support through the estimation of an empirical model that allows for the correlation of these two outcomes of interest. That is, we examine whether families that receive cash child support are more or less likely to receive in-kind support from the nonresident father. Second, we examine how visitation with nonresident fathers affects these outcomes. We consider the effects of both the quantity and quality of visitation on nonresident fathers’ economic support. We assess the quality of the visits by looking at the extent of communication, the duration of visits, and the diversity of activities in which the father and his child participate (e.g., leisure, religious, school). Third, we analyze the relationships between visitation, child support, and inkind support, for not just low-income families, but for all families and test whether the relationship varies by income. For instance, are fathers in low-income families more likely than higher-income fathers to substitute in-kind support for cash child support payments as some studies would suggest (e.g., Edin and Lein 1997)? Is the relationship between visits and in-kind support stronger for low-income versus higher-income families? Our study found that the relationship between in-kind support and cash support is not statistically significant, suggesting that in-kind support and child support are the result of different social processes. For example, visitation is associated with greater receipt of in-kind support, but not child support. The effects of visitation on in-kind support receipt vary by the aspect of visitation considered and by the type of in-kind support examined. The strongest visitation effect on in-kind support receipt is the number of days the child stays with the father. The more days the child stays with the father, the more likely she or he was to receive all of the
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Alternate Webpage(s)	https://paa2007.princeton.edu/papers/71627
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/center-for-family-and-demographic-research/documents/working-papers/2007/CFDR-Working-Papers-2007-11-Toward-a-Fuller-Understanding-of-Nonresident-Father-Involvement-A-Joint-Examination-of-Child-Support-and-In-Kind-Support-Receipt.pdf
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Resource Type	Article