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Title: Fathers' Time vs. Fathers' Money: Effects of the Child Support Enforcement System
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Bitler, Marianne Parcella
Fathers' Time vs. Fathers' Money: Effects of the Child Support Enforcement System
Working Paper, RAND, Santa Monica, CA, July 2000
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: RAND
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Child Support; Fathers, Absence; Fathers, Involvement; Fathers, Presence; Household Composition; Time Use; Welfare

Children's attainments in later life are tied to a variety of inputs that come from within the family. These inputs increasingly come from absent fathers who can contribute both money and time to their children. Government actions to collect child support from absent fathers could lead them to spend more time with their children or it could cause them to substitute money for time. Aggressive enforcement may also reduce contact with fathers who are afraid of being targeted for sanctions. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, I find that more aggressive enforcement at the state level reduces father-child contact as measured by number of visits and physical distance. Instrumental variables estimates suggest that time and money are substitutes for fathers affected by these child support enforcement mechanisms.
Bibliography Citation
Bitler, Marianne Parcella. "Fathers' Time vs. Fathers' Money: Effects of the Child Support Enforcement System." Working Paper, RAND, Santa Monica, CA, July 2000.