Fathers and children: alimony and contact after marriage breakdown (Uruguay)

From 1985 to 2000 the total divorce rate (TDR) in Uruguay doubled from 15% to 30%, the highest figure in South America. Despite the increasing number of divorces and separations, there is still little information concerning contact between non resident parents and children and payment of child support. This paper provides more information on these two points, using a survey that collected the appropriate data. Since we have data from both men and women, we analyse declarations of fathers and mothers and explore the sources of their differences. Our main conclusions are: 1) child support payment rates and contact with children after divorce are higher according to fathers than to mothers; 2) father’s capacity to pay is related to child support but not with contact; 3) fathers and mothers do not agree about the effect of repartnering of the mother; 4) fathers’ repartening diminishes contact but does not affect child support payment rates.