Millions of Mothers Living Apart from Their Children

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 21, 2006—A new Urban Institute study reports that in 2002, 4.7 million children did not live with their mothers, up from 3.7 million in 1997. While much research and legislation address nonresident fathers, nonresident mothers, who numbered 2.2 million in 2002, have been largely overlooked.

"The Economic Reality of Nonresident Mothers and Their Children," by Urban Institute researchers Liliana Sousa and Elaine Sorensen, draws from the Urban Institute's 2002 National Survey of America's Families.

Nonresident mothers differ from nonresident fathers in two important ways: the mothers are more likely to live with some of their children than the fathers and they are more likely to be poor. The poverty rate among nonresident fathers was 11 percent in 2001 compared to 27 percent among nonresident mothers. Given the economic differences, it is not surprising to find mothers are less likely than fathers to pay child support.

Children who live apart from their mother have very different living arrangements than those who don't live with their father. Thirty-nine percent of children with a nonresident mother live apart from both parents, while only 10 percent of those with a nonresident father live with neither parent. Most children who live with a non-parental caregiver do not receive child support and they experience relatively high rates of poverty.

The researchers conclude that many children who live apart from their mothers, especially those who live with neither parent, may benefit from increased child support enforcement.

The report, from the Urban Institute's Assessing the New Federalism project, is available at http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?id=311342. For more ANF research, go to http://www.urban.org/center/anf/index.cfm.

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