The Impact of Child Support Payments on the Educational Attainment of Children

This study investigates one long-term consequence of living in a female-headed family--the effect on the educational attainment of children. This study also examines how the receipt of child support affects the educational attainment of children. The theoretical framework for this study draws on two areas: human capital acquisition and household production theory. The study is based upon data from a mother/child extract of the 1984 March/April Match File of the Current Population Survey. Each mother was matched with her eldest child between the ages of 16 and 20. The sample consists of 4974 mother-child matches. The three dependent variables used to measure educational attainment are: (1) total years of school completed by the child among children 16-20 years of age; (2) the probability of completion of high school among children 18-20 years of age; and (3) the probability of entrance into college among high school graduates. Living in a female-headed family is also measured in three different ways: (1) as a simple dichotomous variable indicating whether or not the child ever lived in a female-headed family (at any age); (2) as dummy variables representing the type of female-headed family lived in (whether the mother is ever divorced or currently separated, or is never married); and (3) as a set of dummy variables indicating the mother's current marital status. The analysis of the first dependent variable, years of school completed, is carried out with ordinary least dependent variables, the probability of completion of high school and of entrance into college, are examined using logit analysis. Results show that while living in a female-headed family significantly reduces the educational attainment of children, the amount of child support received significantly increases it. Moreover, the coefficient on child support income is significantly larger than those on other sources of family income, suggesting that child support income received from an absent father signifies more than just a monetary contribution. All sources of family income other than welfare were found to have a positive effect on a child's educational attainment.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Agricultural and Consumer Economics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Lee Chung, Seung Sin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Beller, Andrea H.

• Home Economics
• Sociology, Individual and Family Studies

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8908746

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/77470