ACCURACY AND AMBIGUITY IN THE APPLICATION OF STATE CHILD-SUPPORT GUIDELINES

In an effort to standardize the calculation of monthly child support a wards; the federal government requires states to use preestablished fo rmulas to determine the amount of awards. This study utilizes survey d ata from 20 states to determine the extent to which individuals who re gularly calculate child support awards using these state formulas do s o accurately. We find that individuals who regularly calculate child s upport awards often arrive at different support award amounts because of the complexity of the state guidelines, human error, differences in their experience and training, and lack of computerization. Adopting simpler formulas would reduce errors; this should be a priority even i f child support officials use computers to calculate award amounts. Ef forts to further the training and education of personnel who calculate awards would also help, and child support offices should revise their formulas to cover high-income cases.