New data on child support payments across the country include a number of statistics that Seattle family lawyers will find especially intriguing. The data based on U.S. Census Bureau statistics finds that approximately 59% of the total child support payments that were made in 2010 were towards the support of children below the age of 21.
In all, approximately $41.7 billion was paid out by noncustodial parents as child support in 2010. The remainder was paid out to children above the age of 21, as well as parents and other relatives.
The data came from the Survey of Income and Program Participation between May and August 2010. The program has been designed to monitor the economic as well as social well-being of individuals. There were some interesting findings from the report. For instance, the data shows that the average noncustodial parent makes child support payments of approximately $430 per month. That works out to annual payments of about $5,150.
An overwhelming majority or 85% of all providers of child support are male. Approximately 15% of the providers were female. In spite of the fact that women are now increasingly being called upon to pay child support, the number of males who make child support payments is still overwhelmingly higher than the number of females.
Male providers also paid the highest amount of child support with the average payment being approximately $5,450. For female providers, the average payment was approximately $3,500.
The majority of the respondents in the survey were taking care of the financial and medical needs of one child. Approximately 6 out of 10 child-support providers were paying for the support of one child, while 3 out of 10 were supporting 2 children.
