A Comment on "Why Did Child Support Award Levels Decline from 1978 to 1985?" by Philip K. Robins

Between 1978 and 1985 the mean real value of child support payments due declined 25 percent. In this journal, Philip Robins argued most of this decline was the result of an increase in the ratio of female to male earnings, but we argue his conclusion is based upon an inappropriate use of decomposition analysis. We show child support due declined largely as a result of a secular decline in the real value of new awards, which have fallen almost three percent per year since 1961, and we investigate why new awards declined. Our findings have implications for reforms contained in the Family Support Act of 1988.