"Unlike child support, which nearly all of the decrees provided for, spousal support provisions were found in only 30 percent of the decrees. - p. 123
"One notable difference between the two samples relates to the spousal support. The award rate in our sample - 30 percent - is much higher than the award rate for the United States as a whole - 8 percent. The level of the award, however, is slightly lower than the U. S. average, and the extent of compliance is with the award is also lower. It may be that in other states only fathers with relatively higher incomes are required to pay spousal support, and that these men have greater ability and propensity to pay." - p.130
"This rate of spousal support is almost five times higher than that found in the rest of the country." - p. 345
"In cases where spousal support was awarded, the couple had been married more than 12 years on the average - two years longer than the average for the rest of the sample." - p.124
"[The] amount was affected by the length of the marriage: the award increased slightly for each additional year of marriage." - p.124
"If the mother was not employed prior to the initial separation, the probability of an award increased by 18 percentage points." - p.124
| US mothers
divorced in 1984 a |
California
Sample b |
|
| Any child support award c | 84.7% | 89.6% d |
| Child support award positive/per month | $300 | $387 d |
| Child support received for those
with positive awards |
$214 | $300 |
| Any Spousal Support Award | 8.1% | 30.5% d e |
| Spousal Support Award positive/month | $540 | $561 d e |
| Spousal support received if due | $444 | $371 |
| Child Support compliance f | 63.1% | 70.8% |
| Received full child support | 52.4% | 52.1% |
| Received zero child support | 22.9% | 17.7% |
| Spousal Support compliance | 70.1% | 61.9% |
| Received full spousal support | 66.7% | 41.7% |
| Received zero spousal support | 16.7% | 28.0% |
a. This sample was taken from the 1986 March /April Current Population Survey of Alimony and Child Support. Spousal support and child support refers to the year 1985.
b. The sample consists of families with mother sole or joint physical custody who had completed their divorce by the third interview. Spousal support and child support are reported for the third interview.
c. Some divorce settlements specify a token award of one dollar in order to retain jurisdiction over the settlement. We convert all one-dollar awards to zero.
d. Some decrees indicate that there is not yet an agreement about child support and spousal support. We treat these cases as having no award at final judgement. There were two joint custody cases where the decree specifies that the mother pays support to the father. We treat these cases as having no award made to the mother.
e. Any spousal award includes all mother who were ever awarded support. Some of the women who were originally awarded spousal support are still not eligible to receive support by the time 3 interview. Sixty-two percent of the divorce decrees granting spousal support limit the time during which the support is owed. The median duration of these awards is three years. By the third survey, 34 percent of these limits have expired. In addition, no spousal support is owed to women who have remarried. Thus, only 19 percent of the sample are due spousal support by the third interview. Spousal award positive/month includes only those still due spousal support at the third interview.
f. Child support and spousal support compliance
are defined as the amount received as a percentage of the amount that is
due.
- p.124