Child support payments average $430 in U.S.

Monthly child support payments in the United States averaged $430 per month in 2010, according to new U.S. Census Bureau statistics. That averages out to be less than $15 per day.
 

The statistics from Support Providers: 2010 show that 59 percent of the $41.7 billion in total payments were for child support for children under 21 ($24.4 billion), which was paid by 4.8 million parents. The remainder was paid to children over 21, parents, and other relatives or nonrelatives of the providers. Monetary support in 2010 was primarily for children, although it also included support for other nonhousehold members, such as parents or other relatives. Other highlights in the report:  

--About 85 percent of child support providers were male and 15 percent were female.

--Annual child support payments averaged $5,450 from male providers and $3,500 from female providers.

--About three of every four child support providers had some type of an agreement or court order for support.

--About six-in-10 child support providers paid support for one child, three-in-10 supported two children, and the remaining one-in-10 supported three or more children.

--About 2.1 million providers supported people other than their children younger than 21, with 32 percent of these providing support for their parents.

The data were collected from May through August 2010 in the Survey of Income and Program Participation. As in all surveys, the data are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. For further information on the source of the data and accuracy of the estimates, including standard errors and confidence intervals, go to <http://www.census.gov/sipp/source.html>.

Editor’s note: The statistics can be found at <http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/childsupport/providers2010.html>.