More custodial parents fall below poverty line as child support payment rates drop

SALT LAKE CITY — A growing number of custodial parents fell below the poverty line in 2009 as fewer received the full amount of child support owed to them.

A new Census Bureau report showed that nationwide, 41.2 percent of noncustodial parents received the full amount of child support owed them in 2009, down from 46.8 percent in 2007.

The report, "Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2009," also found that the proportion of parents owed child support and received either full or partial payments fell from 76.3 percent to 70.8 percent over the same period.

Tracy Gruber, policy analyst for Voices for Utah Children, said the increasing number of families not receiving the full amount of child support owed to them is cause for concern.

"Many families are already in financial distress. This puts them in further financial distress, which means they're more apt to use government safety net programs such as TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.) That's what those programs are for, but as more people access them it's difficult because those programs are woefully underfunded," Gruber said.

Timothy Grall, author of the report, said child support income is particularly important to families in poverty. Child support represents 62.6 percent of the average income for custodial parents below poverty who received full support, the report said.

"The report shows that increasingly, custodial parents find themselves below the poverty level," said Grall.

The report found that 28.3 percent of all custodial parents had incomes below poverty in 2009, up from 23.4 percent in 2001. This segment is nearly twice as likely as the overall population to be poor.

Nationally, the average amount of child support received by custodial parents owed support payments in 2009 was about $300 a month.

In Utah, the Office of Recovery Services' caseload has increased since the economic downturn started as more custodial parents seek help collecting child support owed to them and as noncustodial parents attempt to modify support orders.

"The caseload is up because before (the economic downturn), more people were able to work things out," financially, said Catherine Taylor, who heads ORS's constituent and legislative services. "Now neither party can."

ORS collection rates are slightly higher than national averages, although the agency's collection of current orders has also slipped since 2007, Taylor said.