Child Support Collection Facts

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  • In 2005, California had 2,052,016 children owed a total dollar amount of $19 Billion dollars.
  • Currently approximately 44% of this support is being collected, leaving 56% or approximately $9.5 Billion uncollected.
  • Monterey County has 25,000 cases of child support that require assistance with collections.
  • These cases require an annual expense of $11.5 million dollars from the County budget.
  • On average, each case represents 2 to 6 children, so possibly, almost 100,000 children — 25% of our entire population — whose quality of life is affected by nonpayment of child support.
  • Nonpayment of support is the reason 1 in every 5 children lives in poverty.
  • Nine out of ten children on welfare are owed child support.
  • 50% of Caucasian children, 60% of all Hispanic children and 70% of all Black children growing up in single parent households live at or below the poverty level.
  • The poorest Californians are no longer the elderly; they are children of single parent households headed primarily by women: single moms are 8 times more likely to live in poverty than married couples.
  • 98% of juvenile offenders come from single parent homes where child support is not received.

* Monterey County is representative of every California County with similar demographics.