Satisfaction with Child Support Services

Although previous qualitative research in the United States suggests that noncustodial parents have difficult experiences with the child support system, there is no large-scale study of satisfaction. We use data on more than 1,800 socioeconomically disadvantaged noncustodial parents to explore their level of satisfaction and whether it is related to later child support payments. In contrast to qualitative research, we find that nearly half the noncustodial parents are satisfied with child support services. The level of satisfaction is found to be related to several agency actions and agency inflexibility. Non-Hispanic Black noncustodial parents who are satisfied pay more in support than those who were not satisfied; no relationship between satisfaction and payments is detected for other race and ethnicity groups or the sample as a whole. Our findings provide implications for policy makers and practitioners for understanding participant satisfaction and effectively addressing it in policies and services.