U.S. Child-Support Collections Up 20% Under Expanded Rules

A record $3.2 billion in child support payments were collected from absent parents last year, including more than $300 million deducted from federal income tax refunds, Health Secretary Otis R. Bowen said Thursday.

Bowen, in releasing the Department of Health and Human Services’ 11th Annual Report to Congress on Child Support Enforcement, said the amount represented a 20% increase over fiscal 1985 collections, and brought to more than $19 billion the amount collected since the program began in 1975.

Child support collections have more than doubled since 1980, and the program has collected $3.45 for every dollar it has spent, he said.

Bowen added that more than $300 million of the increase in collections in fiscal 1986 was made possible by deductions from federal income tax refunds. He said that $260 million was collected for children in families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children and an additional $49 million was for non-welfare families.

IRS Expands Deductions

Since 1982, the Internal Revenue Service has been able to deduct delinquent child support payments from the federal income tax refunds due parents whose families receive government assistance. This provision was expanded to families not receiving aid in 1984.