The Relationship between Child Support and Visitation: Evidence From Longitudinal Data

Abstract It has been argued that child-support payments and visits by an absent father are positively related. As a result, improvements in visitation laws and the child-support system are thought to have complementary effects on each other. However, previous empirical estimates ignore the causal relationship and simultaneity between child-support and visitation, as well as possible heterogeneity in unobserved characteristics of parents. This paper uses data for a sample of custodial mothers and absent fathers from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine the relationship between child support and visitation. A set of simultaneous equations which eliminate unobserved differences between individuals are estimated. The findings indicate that changes in child support have no impact on changes in visitation and changes in visitation have no effect on changes in child support. The results suggest that the observed positive correlation between the two activities is due to unmeasured characteristics of the parents.