HEALTH-INSURANCE AND CHILD-SUPPORT

This DataWatch examines the extent of the child support system's incre asing efforts to require nonresident parents to provide health insuran ce for their children. More than half of children who have public insu rance only and more than one-fourth of uninsured children live in fami lies that could be affected by the child support system. Nonresident f athers now provide insurance to only 15 percent of children living wit h their mother. More than one-third of such children have public insur ance only. Thus, if the child support system could ensure children's c overage through nonresident fathers, taxpayer spending on public insur ance could decrease.