Child Support Policy: Some Critical Issues and the Implications for Social Work.

The growth of female-headed households and the concurrent likelihood of poverty in such families have increased interest by the public and policymakers in examining policies affecting this group. Particularly since 1975, policymakers have focused on the child support system as a way to reduce high poverty rates among children in single-parent families and the public cost of supporting those families (Seavey, 1996; Wong, 1993). As a result of this focus, child support collections reached $12.0 billion in fiscal year 1996, an 11 percent increase over fiscal year 1995. Aid to Familie