Average Child Support

[Nynaeve]

Does anyone know where I can find out what the average child support award is in my state?  Someone mentioned a number in a newspaper article, and I KNOW it can't be the average (something like $1,100 a year).  

Thanks,
Nynaeve

[VeronicaGia]

Well, first off, you don't mention your state.  However, you need to realize that since support is based on income, it can vary.  If your state uses gross income, it is usually about 17% of gross income for one child.  If it is net income, it is usually about 25% of net income for one child.  Then, tack on insurance coverage, out of pocket medical costs, daycare (if appropriate), private school (if appropriate), extracurricular activities (if appropriate), etc.  Plus, the costs incurred with having the child at your home too during visitation.

If the average income in your state is higher than most, the average support orders could be higher.  Also, $1,100 a year is nothing.  My DH pays $450/month plus $80/month in insurance.

[Peanutsdad]

Most awards I've seen regarding cs,, come to several thousand dollars a year,,, not 1100. Are you sure you didnt mean a month instead of a year?


Typically, the middle class folks get slammed with an amount of 450-1000 a month.

[Nynaeve]

Hi, thanks for replying.

I am in Michigan.  I am aware that child support is (supposedly) based on income, but since more people are not low income than are, the average should be much higher than $1100 a year.  I agree, that is not much.  Gee...It MIGHT actually even be a FAIR amount for 1 child!  

Nynaeve

[Nynaeve]

Nope, it said "year."  And that's what they meant, too.  The person was writing about money going to schools, and wanted to know why "the average custodial parent in Michigan can raise a child on $1191 in child support for 365 days," but the school needs about 5 times that to teach for half that time.

Not only does the person obviously have NO idea what goes into education, she has NO idea what child support awards are.  I'm just hoping to find a published quote of the ACTUAL average, so that I can educate her.

Thanks,
Nynaeve

[KAT]

My sister & I were number crunching the other day just for fun. We figured the average support award yearly is about 5,000 on the low end...of course there is no data to back it up.
Anyway, the your state knows exactly how much it costs to raise a child. Do a search & find out how much is paid per child in welfare benefits and also for how much foster care providers are compensated per child.
KAT

[joni]

:-(

[maymee]

I live in Michigan to and I know that the lowest possible CS order is $25/week for a NCP who is unemployed.  But the average order for a working NCP is 25% of the Gross Pay for one child.  I'm not sure what it is if there are more children involved.  I know that my son's father is ordered to pay me the same amount of money a week that he is ordered to pay his ex-wife for his daughter.  You can also go to //www.3rdcc.org which is the Wayne County Friend of the Court's web page and download a copy of the handbook which has the guidelines for determining CS amounts and as far as I know every county here follows those basic guidelines.  I could be wrong though.

[KAT]

Man, that is bad. We pay over 2 g's per month. You know, I could see if there was sort of standard of living that the children had to meet if the family was still intact If bio contributed to the financial support, but that is NOT the case. Bio doesn't work, 18 in a few weeks SD doesn't work, the 16 year old doesn't either, they dropped out of school in the 8th grade. All 3 now have criminal records. SS will probably going to jail for a while in July for selling drugs.  They live in a 340.00 a month trailer. This is NOT child support. It's ALL FAMILY support. DH provides for all 3 of them.
It tanks my token. High support awards like this do NOTHING to encourage the bio or these kids to become productive members of society. What are they going to do once the support stops? Yeah, that's one question I would like to ask and I think everyone who pays taxes or shops anywhere should. It's called welfare, cheating, stealing and basically living off the backs of others.  
Burns my fanny I tell ya!
Vent over.....*sigh*
KAT

[MixedBag]

numbers can be made to say anything -- particularly when using statistical words like AVERAGE.

There's no such animal as "average" child support if you ask me because it's mainly based on income.  Then there's a dozen other factors that go into it.

You know that person's average figure probably includes all the parents who don't pay a dime in support.  I forgot what the commercial on TV this afternoon said about parents who don't receive support -- something like 55-60% of the parents who are supposed to receive support don't.

I thought -- hogwash.  There's another statistics.  And numbers can be manipulated to tell you just about anything you want to hear.