Nonpayment of child support is a reality of life in the 1990's. Most children living with only one parent live with their mother, and these families of women and children are four times more likely to suffer poverty than other families. This report -- resulting from a study by the Attorney General of Minnesota into the existing system of child support establishment, enforcement, and collection -- presents nine specific proposals aimed at simplifying the child support system, making it more effective at collecting support, and creatively tackling children's poverty as it relates to the nonpayment of support.

On August 22, 1996, President William Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996. Media and goververnment sources portrayed this act as the most important welfare reform since the passage of Social Security in the New Deal 61 years earlier. The hype around welfare reform overshadowed a significant section of the act entitled, “Title III—Child Support.” This section of the act made major changes in the child support program that is charged with the task of establishing, enforcing and modifying child support orders for children with non-residential parents. This book tells the story of the development and passage of the 1996 child support reforms.