Monthly Child Support Averaged $425 in 2005

WASHINGTON, May. 06 /PRNewswire/ --

WASHINGTON, May 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the U.S. Census Bureau:

Monthly child support payments averaged $425 in 2005, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data.

Across the nation, nearly 8 million people provided $43 billion in monetary support to people living in other households in 2005.

The data from Support Providers: 2005 show that monetary support is primarily for children, although it also includes support for other nonhousehold members, such as parents or other relatives.

The data for these tables come from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), a national survey designed to provide comprehensive details about the social and economic well-being of individuals and households.

Highlights include:

    --  Support payments totaled $43.4 billion in 2005, an average of $5,600 per
        provider annually.

    --  Seventy-three percent of support providers made payments for their own
        children younger than 21 in 2005.

    --  The average amount each support provider paid for child support in 2005
        was $5,100, for a total of $28.7 billion nationwide.

Editor's note: The report can be accessed at

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    --  About 2.1 million providers supported people other than their children
        younger than 21, with 40 percent of these providing support for their
        parents.

    --  About 87 percent of child support providers were male. In 2005, male
        support providers spent a median of $3,900 and an average of $5,200 for
        child support.

    --  Three-quarters of child support payments were the result of an agreement
        or court order.

    --  About six in 10 child support providers paid support for one child,
        while the remaining four supported two or more children.

These data were collected from June through Sept. 2005 in the Survey of Income and Program Participation. As in all surveys, these data are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. For further information on the source of the data and accuracy of the estimates, including standard errors and confidence intervals, go to >.

Tom Edwards

Public Information Office

301-763-3030/763-3762 (fax)

301-457-1037 (TDD)

e-mail: pio@census.gov