Facts about Child Support

Child support is an important source of income for millions of Americans. That's why the Census Bureau regularly examines the characteristics of those who receive child support and the size of child support payments. Here are the latest findings...

• Of the nation's 83 million children under age 21, more than one in four (27 percent) lives in a custodial-parent family.
• Of the 13.6 million custodial parents, only 50 percent had child support agreements.
• Those with agreements were supposed to receive an average of $5,760 in child support in 2015.
• Among those with agreements, 69 percent received payments in 2015.
• Among those who received payments, the average received was $3,447

When the Census Bureau asked custodial parents without child support agreements why they did not have a formal arrangement, the single biggest response was that the other parent provides what he or she can. 

Source: Census Bureau, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2015