Oklahoma Joint Senate and House Judiciary Child Support

Guideline Review for House Interim Study 97-33

 

by Gregory J. Palumbo, Ph.D.†

November 25, 1997

† Policy Analyst, American Fathers Coalition, 2000 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Ste. 148, Washington, D.C. 20006, (202)-835-1000.

and

Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, (405)-271-4117

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 
 
 
 
 

ABSTRACT

 

This document has been prepared on behalf of the noncustodial parents in the State of Oklahoma who routinely provide emotional and financial support for their children. This document is intended to help the Oklahoma Joint Senate and House Judiciary Child Support Guideline Review Committee for House Interim Study 97-33 to facilitate their review process. The Family Support Act of 1988 requires a review of the State’s child support guidelines every 4 years. The Federal Government set two requirements for the review of child support guidelines that include consideration of (1) economic data related to the cost of raising children in the State, and (2) then analyze case data related to the application of and deviations from the child support guidelines [ 45 CFR 302.56(h)].

This document contains a history of child support guidelines and an overview of the approaches used by the 50 States in establishing their child support guidelines. Also included are several newer child support guideline formulas provided by Roger Gay and Donald J. Bieniewicz. We have also included a section that covers median family income in Oklahoma in comparison to the U.S. median family income over the past 10 years. We have included an explanation and discussion of the USDA estimates on expenditures on children by families. A historical analysis of expenditures on children by families using a percentage of gross family income spent per category is also provided, and demonstrates that there has been little change by category since 1985. There is a review of welfare and the entitlement programs that encompass welfare in the third section. We have also included summary information on the most recent and comprehensive study on child support compliance in the U.S. compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. A comparison of child support guidelines in Oklahoma and surrounding States that was given to the House Judiciary Committee in the spring is included. Last, several myths about child support and its role in removal of welfare recipients from the welfare rolls are debunked. It is our hope that this document will help educate and inform committee members of the Joint Senate and House Judiciary Child Support Guideline Review Committee, especially those who may not have been involved in review of child support guidelines in the past.

Our analysis of the available data on cost of living, current Oklahoma child support guidelines, and the estimates of expenditures on children by families indicate noncustodial parents in Oklahoma have been paying more than their fair share of child support. Noncustodial parents have not only been paying more than their share of child support needed to raise children in Oklahoma since implementation of the presumptive guidelines in 1990, but they continue to do so even to this day. Oklahomans at present pay child support at levels that are comparable to those present in the guidelines used in surrounding states. It is therefore unnecessary at this time to raise the child support guidelines in Oklahoma.