NORMATIVE BELIEFS ABOUT PARENTS AND STEPPARENTS FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONSTO CHILDREN FOLLOWING DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE

In this study, we investigated normative beliefs regarding financial o bligations toward children after divorce and remarriage. Three vignett es describing different family situations involving a child who needed tutoring were mailed to 234 women and 114 men from a Midwestern state . Clear trends emerged from the quantitative and qualitative data. The keys to who should pay for the tutoring were (a) financial ability, ( b) sharing a household residence, and, to a lesser degree, (c) custody arrangement. Implications for social policy are discussed.