Child Support Receipt and Child Poverty Among Custodial-Mother Families in Chile and Colombia: A Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract

Children living in custodial-mother families are disproportionately poor as compared to children living with both parents. Child support from the noncustodial father is associated with lower poverty rates among custodial-mother families, suggesting that policies to promote child support payments improve the economic well-being of these families. Yet, we do not know whether child support remains a protective factor against child poverty when other anti-poverty strategies are considered, and whether this association remains significant throughout childhood, especially in middle- and low-income countries. We contribute to addressing these research gaps by investigating the following questions in Chile and Colombia: (1) How do child poverty and child support receipt change over time among children in custodial-mother families? (2) To what extent does child support protect these children against concurrent poverty? And (3) To what extent does child support protect these children against future childhood poverty? We find that chronic poverty is common among children in custodial-mother families in both countries, but a higher proportion of Colombian children remain poor throughout their childhood. In both countries child support is inconsistently received, but a higher proportion of Chilean children receive child support throughout their childhood. Child support is associated with a 6–8 percentage point decline in concurrent poverty in both countries. However, child support is associated with a decline in future childhood poverty only in Chile. Our findings highlight the importance of cross-national research to better understand the strengths and limitations of child support policy as a strategy to address child poverty.