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Article: Do Child Support Awards Cover the Cost of Raising Children?
- Article from:
- Family Economics and Nutrition Review
- Article date:
- January 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Superintendent of Documents. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A dramatic change in American family life during the past 30 years has been the growth in the number of single-parent families. In 1970, 13 percent of all families with children were headed by a single parent. By 1996, this proportion had climbed to 32 percent (14,17). It is estimated that half of the children in the United States will spend part of their childhood in families headed by a single parent (4)--typically, the mother. Since 1970, single parenthood has become synonymous with poverty. In 1994, the median income of single-parent families headed by a female was less than one-third that of married-couple families with children (17); 53 percent of these female-headed ...