More than one-third of all children under 18 — about 24 million children — live in single-parent families, the vast majority headed by single mothers. Although there have been improvements (such as automatic deductions from paychecks) in collecting and distributing child support from noncustodial parents (those who do not have physical custody of their children), more than half of the parents who were owed child support in 2013 received no payments or partial payments.

Noncustodial parents — most of whom are fathers — often struggle to meet their child support obligations if they have low incomes and poor job prospects. Many accumulate child support debts while their children lack the financial support they need. Many of these parents’ financial struggles are attributable, at least in part, to broad shifts in the U.S. economy that have dramatically reduced the availability of well-paying jobs for workers without college educations or other postsecondary training.

In partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, and child support agencies in multiple states, the Families Forward Demonstration examines new strategies to improve the earnings and financial capabilities of noncustodial parents who owe child support but are unable to fully meet their obligations due to low earnings. The objective is to identify employment approaches that can be integrated into child support programs across the country to improve financial outcomes for noncustodial parents and increase their ability to support their children.