The Law and Economics of Child Support Payments

The delinquent payment of child support by non-custodial to custodial parents is a major problem throughout the United States. To many observers, the problem is one of 'deadbeat dads' - men who simply will not make the required payments. The solution has been to enforce payment by the imposition of increasingly stringent civil and criminal penalties. Despite these efforts, the percentage of single mothers receiving child support has changed very little over the past twenty-five years. The Law an