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Sanders, Ruth Atmfield; And OthersChild Support and Alimony: 1985. (Advance Data fromMarch-April 1986 Current Population Surveys). SpecialStudies.Bureau of the Census (DOC), Suitland, Md. PopulationDiv.Office of Child Support Enforcement (DHHS),Washington, DC.Aug 8729p.Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government PrintingOffice, Washington, DC 20402 (Stock No.803-005-10005-7, $1.50).Statistical Data (110) -- Collected Works - Serials(022)Current Population Reports; series P-23 n152 Aug1987

MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.*Divorce; *Family Income; Family Problems; *Females;National Surveys; *One Parent Family; *Parents;Tables (Data)*Alimony; *Child Support; Property Disposition

ABSTRACTOne of a series, this report presents information on

the receipt by women of support payments, both those which followdivorce and separation and those for children of never-married women.The report includes information on the award and actual roceipt bywomen of child support and alimony. The report also provides dataconcerning receipt and type of property settlement for women who havebeen divorced at some point. Information included in the report isbased on advance findings from the 1986 survey conducted by theBureau of the Census through questions supplementing the April 1986Current Population Survey. All women 18 years of age and older werewithin the sampling universe for the supplemental questions. Inaddition to 11 text tables, the report provides five detailed tables.Appendices include definitions and explanations of terms andcomputations, and technical information concerning the source andreliability of estimates. A newsletter summarizing the findings isincluded with the report. (RH)

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Reproducti*

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********************************************************ons supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made

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CURRENT POPULATION REPORTSSpecial Studies

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Series P-23, No.152Office of Educational Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL R73OURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

Xhis document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or ci.ganizaliononginating

0 Minor changes have been made to improvereproduction Quality

pointsof view or optr.tons statedin thisdocu-ment do not necessarily represent officialOERI position or policy.

Child ua-A Al' -Alf:

1985(Advance Data from

March-April 1986 CurrentPopulation Surveys)

U.S. Department of CommerceBUREAU OF THE CENSUS

2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE

Acknowledgments

This report was prepared by Ruth Armfield Sanders of the Income Statistics Branchof Population Division. Mary F. Henson contributed to the preparation and statisticalreview of the text. The report was prepared under the general direction of John F.Coder, Chief of the Income Statistics Branch. Sampling review was conducted byLouis E. Williams of the Statistical Methods Division. Overall direction was providedby Gordon W. Green, Jr., Assistant Division Chief (Socioeconomic Statistics Pro-grams), Population Division.

Data collection was conducted by Bureau of the Census interviewers under theoverall direction of Stanley D. Matchett, Chief, Field Division. Publication planning,design, composition, editorial review, and printing planning and procurement wereprovided by the staff of Publications Services Division, Walter C. Odom, Chief.

The Office of Child Support Enforcement of the Department of Health and HumanServices co-sponsored the survey on which the findings in this report are based.

CURRENT POPULATION REPORTS

Special Studies

Series P-23, No.152Issued August 1987

Child Supportand Alimony:

1985(Advance Data from

March-April 1986 CurrentPopulation Surveys)

U.S. Department of CommerceClarence J. Brown, Acting Secretary

Robert Ortner, Under Secretaryfor Economic Affairs

BUREAU OF THE CENSUSJohn G. Keane, Director

BUREAU OF THE CENSUSJohn G. Keane, Director

C.L. Kincannon, Deputy DirectorWilliam P. Butz, Associate Director for

Demographic FieldsRoger A. Herriot, Senior Demographic and

Housing Analyst

POPULATION DIVISIONPaula J. Schneider, Chief

SUGGESTED CITATION

U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-23, No. 152, ChildSupport and Alimony: 1985 (Advance Data From March-April 1986 Current Popula-tion Surveys), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1987.

For sale by Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.

Contents

Page

Introduction 1

Award end receipt of child support payments 1

The deficit in child support payments 6

Award and receipt of alimony payments 6

Award of property settlements 8

Brief description of the survey 9

Revised survey procedures 9

Changes in the April CPS Survey 10Changes in the March CPS Survey 10

TEXT TABLES

A. Award and recipiency status of womenchild support payments in 1985 and 1983 1

B. Child support award status and inclusion of health insurance in award, by selectedcharacteristics of women 2

C. Child support award status and reason for non-award, by selected characteristics ofwomen 3

D. Comparison of mean child support payments received by women in 1935 and 1983,by selected characteristics 4

E. Child support payments awarded and receivedwomen with children present, by selectedcharacteristics for all women and women with incomes below the poverty levelin 1985 5

F. Mean child support payments to women due child support in 1985, by type ofarrangement 6

G. Award and recipiency status of womenalimony payments in 1985 and 1983 6H. Comparison of mean alimony payments received by women in 1985 and 1983,

by selected characteristics 7

I. Alimony payments awarded and received in 1985ever-divorced and currently separatedwomen, by selected characteristics 8

J. Receipt of property settlement by ever-divorced women, as reported in 1986 and 1984 8

K. Receipt and type of property settlement for ever-divorced women, by selectedcharacteristics 9

DETAILED TABLES

1. Child support payments agreed to or awarded, by characteristics of all women and womenwith incomes below the poverty level in 1985 11

2. Child support award statusinclusion of health insurance in award and reason fornon-award, by characteristics of all women and women with incomes below the povertylevel in 1985 12

3. Receipt of child support payments in 1985women with children present, by type ofarrangement 13

4. Alimony or maintenance payments agreed to or awarded, by characteristics of all womenand women with incomes below the poverty level in 1985 14

5. Property settlements following divorceever-divorced women, by characteristics 15

IV

APPENDIXES

PageAppendix A. Definitions and explanations 17Appendix B. Source and Reliability of Estimates 19

Source of data 19Reliability of estimates 19

APPENDIX TABLES

A-1. Weighted average poverty thresholds in 1985 18A-2. Consumer Price Index (CPI): 1977 to 1985 18B-1. Sample sizes and imputation rates 20B-2. Standard errors of estimated numbers of women: 1985 21B-3. Standard errors of estimated percentages of women. 1985 21B-4. "a" and "b" parameters and "f" factors for calculating approximate standard errors

of estimated numbers and percentages of women: 1985 22

Symbols Used in Tables

Represents zero or rounds to zero.B Base is less than 75,000.X Not applicable.

A M = ...1

Child Support and Alimony: 1985 (Advance Report)

NOTE

The child support, alimony, and property settlement data as well as data on inJome end poverty status presentedin this report, from the 1986 Current Population Survey (CPS), are the first estimates based entirely on householdsselected from the 1980 census-based sample design. By contrast, the data from the 1984 CPS, presented in theprevious report, were based entirely on households selected from the 1970 census-based sample design. The changein the sample design and its possible effects on the estimates should be kept in mind when comparing the datafrom this report to data from previous years'

INTRODUCTION

This report presents information on the receipt by womenof support payments following divorce and separation and ofsupport payments for children of never-married women. Thereport includes information on both the award and actualreceipt of child support by women on behalf of their childrenand on alimony For their own support. The report also pro-vides additional data cancer- ing receipt and type of propertysettlement for ever-divcrced women.

The Bureau of the Census, under joint sponsorship with theDepartment of Health and Human Services, first conducteda survey specifically designed to obtain data on child supportand alimony in the spring of 1979. The survey, with minormodifications, was subsequently conducted in the springs of1982, 1984, and 1986 by the Bureau of the Census and spon-sored, in part, by the Office of Child Support Enforcement,Department of Health and Human Services. Data from theearlier surveys were presented in Current Population Reports,

'See the section, "Revised Survey Procedures!' For a detailed descrip-tion of the changes to the survey between 1986 and 1984, see the section,"Changes in the April CPS Survey!'

Series P-23, Nos. 112, 140, and 148, respectively.' Advancefindings from the 1986 survey are presented in this report.

AWARD AND RECEIPT OF CHILDSUPPORT PAYMENTS

As of spring 1986, 8.8 million women were living withchildren under 21 years of age whose fathers were notliving in the households; 61 percsnt or about 5.4 millionof these women had esen awarded child support paymentsas of the survey date. (See table A.)

Of the 5.4 million women awarded child support, 4.4 millionwomen were supposed to receive child support for theirchildren in 1985. (The remaining 1 million mothers did nothave payments due them in 19,85.) Of those due payment,about half received the full amount due. The remaining

'For a comparison of the 1982 and 1979 surveys, and the 1984 and1982 surveys, see Current Population Reports, Series P-23, Nos. 140 ana148, respectively, the sections entitled "Changes in the Survey!'

Table A. Award and Recipiency Status of WomenChild Support Payments in 1985 and 1983

(Numbers in thousands. Women with own children under 21 years of age present from absent fathers as of spring 1986 and 1984)

1985 1983

Award and recipiency status

NumberPercent

distribution NumberPercent

distribution

Total 8,808 100.0 8,690 100.0

Awarded' 5,396 61.3 5,015 57.7Supposed to receive payments 4,381 49.7 3,995 46.0Not supposed to receive payments 1,015 11.5 1,020 11.7

Not awarded' 3,411 38.7 3,675 42.3

Supposed to receive payments 4,381 100.0 3,995 100.0Actually received payments 3,243 74.0 3,037 76.0

Received full amount 2,112 48.2 2,018 50.5Received partial amount 1,131 25.8 1,019 25.5

Did not receive payments 1,138 26.0 958 24.0

'Award status as of spring 1986 or 1984.

8

2

women were equally split between those receiving partialpayment and those receiving no payment at all (26percent each).

The child support award rate reported in 1986 (61 percent)increased from that of 1984 (58 percent). However, theproportion of women receiving payments in 1985 (74 per-cent) showed no significant change from that of theprevious survey (76 percent).

Of those mothers awarded child support for their children,45 percent had health insurance included in the award.About half of White mothers had health insurance includedin the awards for their children, compared with only aboutone-fourth of Black and Hispanic mothers. (See table B.)

IMMIN=N

Of the 8.8 million mothers with children present fromabsent fathers, 3.4 million, or 39 percent, were neverawarded child support for their children as of spring 1986.About one-half of the women without awards reported thatthey wanted awards but were unable to obtain them. About37 percent of the women reported that they did not wantchild support awards for their children. For the remainingmothers (about 15 percent), awards were either pendingor another arrangement (joint custody or a propertysettlement) was made.3 (Sea table C.)

'Due to a change in questionnaire design in the 1986 survey, the readershould use care in comparing the data on reason for non-award from thissurvey with non-award data from the 1984 survey. For more details, seethe Llction, "Changes in the April CPS Survey."

Table B. Child Support Award Status and Inclusion of Health Insurance in Award, by Selected Characteristics ofWomen

(Numbers in thousands. Women with own children under 21 years of age present from absent fathers as o'r spring 1986)

Characteristic

Awarded child support payments

Health insurance included in childsupport award

Total Total Number

Percentof total

awarded

Total 8,808 5,396 2,402 44.5

Current Marital Status'

Married' 2,322 1,904 818 43.0Divorced 3,045 2,492 1,255 50.4Separated 1,363 587 224 38.2Never married 2,009 370 90 24.3

Race and Hispanic OriginWhite 6,341 4,476 2,167 48.4Black 2,310 839 214 25.5Hispanic' 813 342 86 25.1

Age

18 to 29 years 2,887 1,288 501 38.930 to 39 years 3,614 2,547 1,142 44.840 years and over 2,307 1,561 758 48.6

Years of School Completed

Less than 12 years 2,230 1,009 343 34.0High school: 4 years 4,176 2,645 1,207 45.6College: 1 to 3 years 1,653 1,169 539 46.1

4 years or more 748 573 312 54.5

Number of Own Children Present From anAbsent Father

One child 4,607 2,783 1,161 41.7Two children 2,879 1,953 935 47.9Three children 867 502 224 44.6Four children or more 456 159 81 50.9

'Excludes a small number of currently widowed women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Remarried women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Hispanic women may be of any race.

3

The mean amount of child supfort for c.it women whoreceived some payment in 1985 was $2,220.4 Afteradjusting for inflation during the 1983 to 1985 period, childsupport payments showed a decrease in real terms. (Seetable D.) During the same period, the average income ofmen increased, from $19,630 in 1383 to $20,650 in 1985.-

The proportion of women that had been awarded child sup-port payments as of 1986 was higher for Whites (71percent) than for Blacks (36 percent) or those of Hispanicorigin (42 percent). (The percent difference between Blackwomen and Hispanic women was not significant.) (Seetable E.)

Women with 4 or more years of college were more likelyto have been awarded support payments (77 percent) thanwomen with 4 years of high school (63 percent). Therewas also some evidence that women with 4 or more yearsof college (82 percent) were more likely to receive

'Mean income figures in the text are rounded to the nearest $10.

' Income figures for males can be found in table 12 of Current Popula-tion Reports, Series P-60, No 154. Information on income of absent fatherswas not available from the survey. If mean income of all males is usedas a proxy for mean income of absent fathers, for a meaningful comparisonto be made. it must be assumed that the average income of all males wasalso representative of tnz average income of absent fathers.

Table C. Child Support Award Status and Reason for Non-Award, by Selbcted Characteristics of Women

(Numbers in thousands. Women with own children under 21 years of age present from absent fathers as of spring 1986)

Not awarded chi;d support payments

Reason for nonaward (percent)

Characteristic

Total Total

Analagreement

pending

Propertysettlement

or jointcustody

in lieu

Did notwant

award

Wantedbut could

not chtainaward'

Total 8,808 3,411 9.6 5.0 36.9 48.5


Married' 2,322 418 3.8 14.1 44.5 37.6Divorced 3,045 553 3.6 12.5 39.2 e.4.7Separated 1,363 776 25.1 3.4 19.7 51.8Never married 2,009 1,639 6.0 0.9 42.2 51.0

Race and Hispanic Origin

White 6,341 1,865 12.5 8.5 38.1 40.9Black 2,310 1,471 6.0 0.9 34.4 58.8Hispanic' 813 471 10.4 2.8 31.4 55.2

Age

18 to 29 years 2,887 1,599 14.6 2.1 35.3 47.930 to 39 years 3,614 1,066 6.6 6.6 41.0 46.040 years and over 2,307 746 3.5 9.0 34.3 53.2


Less than 12 years 2,230 1,221 9.1 3.5 30.8 56.6High school: 4 years 4,176 1,531 10.1 5.4 40.7 43.9College: 1 to 3 years 1,653 484 10.3 5.8 35.5 48.6

4 years or more 748 175 8.6 10.9 49.1 31.4

Number of Own Children Present rroman Absent Father

One child 4,607 1,824 10.6 5.4 40.2 43.8Two children 2,879 926 9.4 5.7 34.1 50.9Three children 867 364 5.5 4.9 30.2 59.3Four children or more 456 297 9.1 1.0 33.0 56.6

'Agreement not sought or reached because of inability to locate father, establish paternity, or some other reason.'Excludes a small number of currently widowed women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Remarried women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Hispanic women may be of any race.

10

4

payments than woman with a high school education (74percent).

The award rate nor never-married women (18 percent) waswell below that of other women (74 percent' k lc-. never-married women who were awarded child support for theirchildren were less likely to have health insurance includedin their awards (24 percent) than were others (46 percent).(See table B.)

Of women with children from an absent father as of spring1986, about 32 percent (2.8 million) had incomes below

the poverty level in 1985. (See table E.)

About 40 percent of these women below the poverty levelwith children from an absent father had been awarded childsupport, compared with 61 percent for all women.

Only about 905,000 women below the poverty level weredue payments in 1985, and only 66 percent of thesewomen received some amount of payment.

The mean child support payment received in 1985 bywomen below the poverty level was $1,380, about two-thirds of the average payment received by all women.

Table D. Comparison of Mean Child Support Payments Received by Women in 1985 and 1983,by Selected Characteristics

Mean child support payments

Characteristic 1983

1985 Constant dollars Currant dollars

Total S 2.215 S 2.528 $2,341


Married' 1,966 2.337 2,164Divorced 2.538 2.690 2,491Separated 2,082 2.896 2,682Never married 1,147 1.222 1,132


White 2,294 2.672 2,475Black 1,754 1,582 1,465Hispanic' 2,011 1.986 1,839Age

18 to 29 years 1,467 1,860 1,72330 to 39 years 2.397 2.544 2.35640 years and over 2,552 3.205 2,968Years of School Completed

Less than 12 years 1,835 1.657 1,535High school: 4 years ?,040 2.331 2,159College: 1 to 3 years 2,447 2,518 2,3324 years or more 2,978 4,446 4,118Number of Own Children Present From anAbsent Father

One child 1,679 1.921 1,779Two children 2,597 3,004 2,782Three children 2.800 3,178 2,943Four children or more 3.739 4,001 3.705

Percent changein child support

payments(constant dollars)

-12.4

*-15.9-5.7

*-28.1-6.1

-14.110.9

1.3

-21.1-5.8

`-20.4

10.7-12.5

-2.8"-33.0

-12.6'43.5-11.9-6.5

Significant between the 90- and 95.percent confidence levels.**Significant at the 95.percent confidence level.

'Excludes a small number of currently widowed women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Remarried women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Hispanic women may be 0' 'ny race.

5

Table E. Child Support Payrnants Awarded and Received-Women With Children Present, by SelectedCharacteristics for All Women and Women With Incomes Below the Poverty Level in 1985

(Numbers in thousands. Women with own children under 21 years of age present from absent fathers as of spring 1986)

Supposed to receive child support 'n 1985

Characteristic

Teal

Percentawarded

childsupport

payments'

Actually received child support in 1985

Total Percent

Meanchild

support

Meantotal

moneyincome

ALL WOMENTotal 8,808 61.3 4,381 74.0 $2,215 $14,776

Current Marital StatusMarried' 2,322 82.0 1,416 68.5 1,966 13,512Divorced 3,045 81.8 2,179 75.1 2,538 16,778Separated 1,383 43.1 453 84.3 2,082 12,642Widowed' 69 (B) 30 (B) (B) (B)Never married 2,009 18.4 303 76.2 1,147 9,675

Race and Hispanic OriginWhite 6,341 70.6 3,651 74.6 2,294 15,052Black 2,110 36.3 657 72.0 1,754 13,297Hispanic' 8'3 42.1 282 68.1 2,011 11,505

Age18 to 29 years 2,887 44.6 1,089 71.3 1,467 10,88630 to 39 years 2,614 70.5 2,182 73.6 2,397 15,51340 years and over 2.307 67.7 1,110 77.6 2,5E2 16,913

Years of School CompletedLess than 12 years 2,230 45.2 750 67.1 1,835 9,144High school: 4 years 4,176 63.3 2,152 74.3 2,040 12,577College: 1 to 3 years 1,653 70.7 1,003 74.6 2,447 17,014

4 years or more 748 76.6 476 82.1 2,978 22,639

Number of Own Children PresentFrom an Absent FatherOne child 4,607 60.4 2,146 72.0 1,679 14,151Two children 2,879 67.8 :,659 77.7 2,597 15,259Three children 867 57.9 426 71.8 2,S00 16,319Four children or more 456 34.3 1E0 68.7 3,739 13,544

WOMEN WITH INCOMES BELOW THEPOVERTY LEVEL IN 1985

Total 2,797 40.4 905 65.7 $1,383 $5,130

Current Marital StatusMarried' 180 67.2 81 61.7 (B) (B)Divorced 795 71.9 499 60.3 1,522 5,295Separated b46 34.2 158 73.4 1,503 4,994Widowed' 18 (B) 4 (B) (B) (B)Never married 1,159 17.9 163 75.5 900 5,450

Race and Hispanic OriginWhite 1,569 50.2 631 65.1 1,463 5,005Black 1,190 27.1 257 67.7 1,085 5,403Hispanic` 414 24.2 74 (B) (B) (B)

Age18 to 29 years 1,419 33.1 368 65.5 963 4,85330 to 39 years 920 52.7 405 63.7 1,674 5,63440 years and over 458 38.4 131 73.3 1,649 4,473

Years of School CompletedLess than 12 years 1,244 32.5 306 63.4 1,350 5,103High school: 4 years 1,188 44.5 437 68.4 1,319 5,072College: 1 to 3 years 333 53.2 149 63.1 1,661 5,393

4 years or more 32 (B) 13 (B) (B) (B)

Number of Own Children PresentFrom an Absent FatherOne child 1,185 40.3 359 65.7 1,112 4,531Two children 940 47.1 362 68.2 1,580 5,004Three children 400 37.3 125 56.0 (B) (B)Four children or more 272 22.1 59 (B) (B) (B)

B Case less than 75,000.'Award status as of spring 1986. i'Remarried women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Widowed women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Hispanic women may be of any race. 12

6

THE DEFICIT IN CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS

For the 4.4 million women due child support payments in1985, the mean amount of child support (including the 1.1million who did not receive any amount) was $1,640. If thefull amount of payment due had been made to all women,the mean amount would have been $2,500. (See table F.)

Table F. Mean Child Support Payments to Women DueChild Support in 1985, by Type ofArrangement

;Numbers in thousands. Women with own children under 21 years ofage presdnt from absent fathers as of spring 1986)

Mean childType of Percent support Mean childarrangement distri- income support

Number bution received' income due

All payments' .. 4,381 100.0 $ 1,640 S 2,495

Court ordered .... 2,751 62.8 1,345 2,393Voluntary 1,441 32.9 2,187 2,706

'Mean amount based on all women due payments, whether or notpayments were received.

'Includes a small number of women whose arrangement type was"other," not shown separately.

Of the women due child support in 1985, 63 percent hadcourt-ordered payments, while 33 percent had a voluntaryagreement. (The remaining 4 percent had some other typeof arrangement.)

'...-/Ma.

For women with court-ordered payments, the mean pay-ment due was $2,390, but the mean amou^t received wasonly $1,350; therefore, women with court orders receivedonly 56 percent of the amount they were due. In contrast,women with voluntary written agreements received 81 per-cent of the amount they were due, and their mean childsupport payments dun ($2,710) and received ($2,190) wereh)gher.

The aggregate amount of child support payments due in1985 was $10.9 billion, but actual payments receivedamounted to only about $7.2 billion. Thus, 66 percent ofthe total amount due was paid in 1985.6

AWARD AND RECEIPT OF ALIMONY PAYMENTS

Of the 19.2 million ever-divorced or currently separatedwomen as of spring 1986, 15 percent were awardedalimony payments. (See table G.)

Of the 840,000 women due alimony payments in 1985,73 percent received at least some portion of their award.

Neither the alimony award rate in 1986 (15 percent) northe recipiency rate in 1985 (73 percent) showed a signifi-cant change from that reported in 1984.

Aggregate child support payments due and received are derived fromtable 3. The aggregate payments due refer only to the total due for theincome year 1985 based on the information reported by the women inthe survey; arrearages are not included in the aggregate figure.

Table G. Award and Recipiency Status of WomenAlimony Payments in 1985 and 1983

(Numbers in thousands. Ever-divorced and currently separated women as of spring 1986 and 1984)

1985 1983

Award and recipiency status

Number

Percentdistri-

bution Number

Percentdistri-bution

Total 19,156 100.0 17,392 100.0Awarded' 2,803 14.6 2,416 13.9Supposed to receive payments 840 4.4 791 4.5Not supposed to receive payments 1,963 10.2 1,625 9.3Not awarded' 16,354 85.4 14,976 86.1

Supposed to receive payments 840 100.0 791 100.0Received payments 616 73.3 608 76.9Did not receive payments 225 26.8 183 23.1

'Award status as of spring 1986 or 1984.

13

7

The mean amount of alimony received by women in 1985was $3,730, not significantly different from the 1983figure, either before or after adjusting for inflation. (Seetable H.)

The alimony award rate for White women (16 percent) was

twice that of Black women (8 percent). (There was nostatistically significant difference in award rates betweenHispanic women and either White or Black women.) (Seetable I.)

Table H. Comparison of Mean Alimony Payments Received by Women in 1985 and 1983, by SelectedCharacteristics

Mean alimony payments

Percentchange

in alimonypayments

(constant dollars)

Characteristic1983

1985Constant

dollarsCurrentdollars

Total $3,733 $4,293 $3,976 -13.0


Divorced 3,975 4,805 4,450 -17.3Separated 3,083 3,491 3,233 -11.7


White 3,858 4,634 4,292 -16.7Black (B) (B) (B) (X)Hispanic' (B) (B) (B) (X)

Age

18 to 29 years (B) (B) (B) (X)30 to 39 years 3,200 2,653 2,457 20.640 years and over 4,365 5,757 5,332 -24.2


Less than 12 years 3,574 (B) (B) (X)High school: 4 years 2,588 3,255 3,015 -20.5College: 1 to 3 years 5,907 5,364 4,968 10.1

4 years or more 4,300 5,502 5,096 -21.8

Presence of Own Children From an AbsentFather

No children 4,241 5,682 5,262 -25.4One or more children 3,174 3,147 2,915 0.9

B Base less than 75,000.X Not applicable.Significant between the 90- and 95-percent confidence levels.

Significant at the 95-percent confidence level.

'Excludes currently married and currently widowed women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Hispanic women may be of any race.

14

8

Table 1. Alimony Payments Awarded and Received in 1985-Ever-Divorced and Currently Separated Women,by Selected Characteristics

(Numbers in thousands. Women as of spring 1986)

Characteristic

Supposed to receive alimony in 1985

Actually received alimony in 1985

Total

Percentawardedalimony

payments Total Percent

Meanalimony

payments

Meantotal

moneyincome

Total 19,156 14.6 840 73.3 $3,733 $17,781

Marital Status'

Married' 7,361 13.8 89 58.4 (B) (B)Divorced 8,000 17.1 604 73.3 3,975 19,425Separated 2,610 10.0 146 82.2 3,083 12,891


White 16,039 15.8 752 74.3 3,858 18,012Black 2,766 8.0 70 (B) (B) (B)Hispanic' 1,196 11.0 42 (B) (B) (B)

Age

18 to 29 years 2,817 7.7 107 57.9 (B) (B)30 to 39 years 5,678 10.9 270 72.2 3,200 16,91240 years and over 10,662 18.5 464 77.2 4,365 19,821


Less than 12 years 5,069 11.8 144 67.4 3,574 11,051High school: 4 years 8,378 15.3 383 71.8 2,588 14,420College: 1 to 3 years 3,558 15.2 161 73.9 5,907 22,006

4 years or more 2,150 17.7 152 82.2 4,300 26,376

Presence of Own Children From anAbsent Father

No children present 12,357 16.4 452 71.2 4,241 18,086One or more children present 6,799 11.4 388 75.5 3,174 17,445

B Base less than 75,000.'Excludes a small number of currently widowed women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Remarried women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Hispanic women may be of any race.

AWARD OF PROPERTY SETTLEMENTS

Of the 16.5 million ever-divorced women as of spring 1986,5.9 million, or about 36 percent, were awarded a propertysettlement, showing no change from the percentagereported in the 1984 survey. (See table J.)

About 26 percent of women with a property settleniemas of spring 1986 received a "one-time" cash payment asat least part of the settlement. (See table K.) About 22 pel.cent received only a cash payment, while about 4 percentreceived both a cash payment and other property.

Of women awarded a property settlement, about 25 per-cent also received some form of support payment in 1985.Of ever-divorced women without a property settlemont,about 14 percent received support payments in 1985. (Seetable 5.)

The average total income of women with propertysettlements (514,970) was higher than those withoutsettlements ($11,850).

Table J. Receipt of Property Settlement byEver-Divorced Women, as Reported in1986 and 1984

(Numbers in thousands. Women as of spring 1986 and 1984)

Receipt of property settlement 1986 1984

Total 16,547 14,761

No property settlement reached . 10,663 9,269Received property settlement 5,883 5,492

Percent receiving propertysettlement 35.6 37.2

15

9

Table K. Receipt and Type of Property Settlement for Ever-Divorced Women, by Selected Characteristics

(Numbers in thousands. Women as of spring 1986)

Property settlement reached

Type of settlement(percent)

Characteristic

Total

Nosettlement

reached TotalCash'

only

Othertypes'

only

Cash'and

othertypes'

Total 16,547 10,663 5,883 21.6 74.2 4.2

Current Marital Status

Divorced 8,000 4,869 3,131 23.5 73.1 3.4Married' 7,361 4,893 2,468 20.5 74.6 4.9Widowed' 1,186 901 285 10.5 82.1 7.4


White 14,408 9,078 5,330 22.1 75.2 2.7Black 1,832 1,373 459 14.6 66.0 19.4Hispanic' 866 619 247 19.0 76.1 4.5

Age

18 to 29 years 2,046 1,535 511 24.7 73.4 2.030 to 39 years 4,950 3,106 1,844 23.2 74.8 2.140 years and over 9,550 6,022 3,528 20.4 74.0 5.7


Less than 12 years 4,146 2,975 1,171 18.6 76.1 5.3High school: 4 years 7,354 4,735 2,619 20.8 74.7 4.5College: 1 to 3 years 3,091 1,910 1,182 22.1 73.9 3.9

4 years or more 1,955 1,044 911 27.3 70.4 2.3

Presence of Own Children From anAbsent Father

No children 11,110 7,197 3,913 21.3 732 5.0One or more children 5,436 3,466 1,970 22.3 75.0 2.7

'A one-time cash settlement.'Other property (e.g., house, other real estate, cars, or furnishing).'Remarried women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Widowed women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.'Hispanic women may be of any race.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SURVEY

The data on child support and alimony were collected ina special supplement to the April 1986 Current PopulationSurvey (CPS). All women 18 years of age and older werewithin the universe for the supplemental questions. Thepresence of own children under 21 years of age whose fatherdid not live in the same household determined whether or nota woman was eligible for the questions on child support.Marital status and divorce history determined whether or nota woman was eligible for the questions on alimony andproperty settlements. The supplemental questions wereplaced on the April CPS so that this information could be com-bined with information previously collected in the March CPSon annual work experience, income, and poverty status.

REVISED SURVEY PROCEDURES

The note at the beginning of this report indicates a revisionto survey procedures for the CPS. This revision was thechange from the 1970 sample design to a sample designbased on the 1980 census.

During the period from April 1984 through June 1985, theBureau of the Census systematically introduced al;ew sampledesign for the Current Population Survey. The purposes of thisnew sample design were to update the sampling frame to the1980-census base, to improve survey efficiency, and toimprove the quality of the survey estimates. The new sampledesign may have small effects on estimates of income,including income from child support and alimony payments.

16

10

CHANGES IN THE APRIL CPS SURVEY

In an attempt to improve reporting and the useability of thedata, a minor modification was made to one question fromthe previous survey. (See Current Population Reports, SeriesP-23, No. 148, appendix C.)

The change was made to the item which ascertains thereason for non-award for those women with children presentfrom absent fathers who were not awarded child support fortheir children. In the previous survey, women interviewed wereasked to indicate the reason for non-award, either by speci-fying one of the six response categories or by indicating therewas "some other reason:' In the 1984 survey, if therespondent indicated that there was "some other reason!' shewas not asked to specify what that reason was. A substan-tial portion of those responding to this item simply indicatedthat there was "some other reason" for non-award.

For the 1986 CPS, the same individual response categoriesfrom the 1984 CPS were retained; however, the requirementwas added that when a respondent answered "some otherreason!' the interviewer was to ask the respondent to specifywhat that reason was.

Likely as a result of the change, a lower proportion of women

interviewed in 1986 responded that the reason for non-award

was "other" than did those interviewed in 1984. The propor-tion of women identifying one of the six specified categoriesas the reason for non-award was thereby increased from thatof the previous survey. Thus, when comparing the data from1986 on reason for non-award to the data collected in 1984,the reader should keep in mind the effect on the data of thechange in the wording of that item.

CHANGES IN THE MARCH CPS SURVEY

The Census Bureau made a revision to the March CPS in-come supplement questionnaire in an effort to adapt to con-tinually rising levels of annual income. Beginning with theMarch 1985 CPS, the question which covers the amount ofearnings received from the employer or own business forwhich the respondent worked the longest during the previouscalendar year was modified to permit coding of earningsamounts to a maximum of $299,999. Prior to March 1986,procedures allowed for coding of amounts to a maximum of$99,999. This change in the questionnaire causes a break inthe time series for some income measures. For detailed in-formation on this change, see Current Population Reports,Series P-60, No. 154, "Revisions to the Earnings Question onthe March 1986 CPS."

17

7-

11

Table 1. Child Support Payments Agreed to or Awarded, by Characteristics of All Womenand Women With-Incomes Below the Poverty Level In 1985

(Women with own children under 21 years of age present from absent fathers as of spring 1986. For meaning of symbols, see text)

Charactedslic

Total(Thous.)

Child support payments

Agreed to or awarded Not awarded

Total,(Thous.)

Supposed to receive payments in 1985

Total(Moue)

Received payments Did not receive payments

Number(Thous.)

Mean totalmoney income

Mean Income fromchild support

Stand-led

Value error(Dot) (D01.)

Stand-ard

Value error(D01.) (D91)

Nmber(Tu hous.)

Mean totalmoney Income

Value(Dol.)

Stand-ard

error(Dot)

Number(Thous.)


Value(Dol.)

Stand-ard

error(Dot.)

ALL WOMEN

TotalStandard error

Cun'ent Marttel StatusMarried*DivorcedSeparatedWklowecPNew married

Race and Hispanic OriginWNteBlackHispanic,

Age18 to 29 pars30 to 39 years40 years and over

Years of School CompletedLees than 12 yearsHigh school: 4 yearsCollege: 1 to 3 years

4 years Of MOM

Number of Own Children

Father r

One chidTwo cNIdrenThree childrenFour children or more

WOPIEN WITH INCOMESBELOW THE POVERTYLEVEL IN 1985

TotalStandard error

Current Marital StatusMarried*DivorcedSeparatedWidowed*Never married

Race and Hispanic OriginWhiteBlackHispanic,

Age18 to 29 years30 to 39 years40 rent and over

Years of School CompletedUM than 12 yearslilgh school:College:

41

yearsto 3 years

4 years or more

Number of Own ChildrenPresent From an AbsentFather

One childTwo childrenThree childrenFour chNdren or more

8 808218

2 3223 0451 383

es2 009

8 3412 310

813

2 8873 8142 307

2 2304 1781 653

748

4 6072 879

887458

2 797187

180795648

181 159

1 5691 190

414

1 419920458

1 2441 188

33332

1 165940400272

5 396 4 381 3 243 14 778174 158 137 (X)

1 9042 492

58743

370

4 476839342

1

2 5288471 581

1 0092 6451 169

573

2 7831 953

502159

1 130120

121572221

9207

787322100

489485178

40462917720

47844314980

1 4182 179

45330

303

3 651657282

1 0892 1821 110

970 13 5121 637 16 778

382 12 64223

231 9 IST2

2 722 15 052473 13 297192 11 505

777 10 8881 605 15 513

861 18 913

750 503 9 1442 152 600 13 5771 003

1

748 17 014478 391 22 639

2 1481 659

426150

905107

81499158

4163

63125774

388405131

306437149

13

55936212559

1 5451 289

308103

59587

50301118

4123

41117443

24125898

194299948

2362477041

14 15115 25916 31913 544

5 13000

(B)5 29*4 994

5 Si

5 0055 403

(B)

4 8535544

5 1035 0725 393

(B)

4 5315 004

310PO

601418708

1 21

338898

1 228

559430640

702388677

1 013

458497982

1 064

35000

835(13)

709

428811(B)

637531817

572523ero(B)

513538

2 215PO

1 0542 5382 082

1 1°34)

2 2941 7542 011

1 4872 3972 552

1 8352 0402 4472 978

1 8792 5972 8003 739

1 35300

1 a/1 503

1 4831 085

(B)

9631 8741 849

1 3501 3191 881

(B)

1 1121 580

61PO

8398

166

87151327

8689

130

13977

137217

81104239615

18000

22414

(B)295

231237

(B)

232296413

315247

(480B)

234289

1 13882

447541

717

72

92918490

312578249

552247

25565

60137012047

31063

31198

41

40

2218331

12814735

113138555

1221155518

10 837PO

9 62112 580

FBI

10 85410 4779 430

6 40811 55314 730

5 6709 736

14 24522 880

11 36711 3276 515

(B)

4 58700

5 023

ri31

4 5634 534

(B)

3 9434 973

(B)

3 3794 760

3 6065 093

495PO

835712

5431 3501 819

715659

1 239

605818

1 0872 454

878958868(B)

63000

7251 152

(B)

853955(B)

1 089888

Bi6

1 041943

3 411140

418553

261 639

1 8851 471

471

1 5991 066

748

1 2211 531

484175

1 824928384297

1 868145

59223425

9952

782868314

951435282

840660158

12

707497252212

7 99800

8 49519 1 375

065

8247

8 7488 9698 308

5 32310 06810 770

4 8822

107

89423

22 567

8 4667 5568 2878 151

3 92800

4 1(13)4o4 335

37783

3 9693 9004 268

3 5954 4994 160

3 8104 1994 455

(B)

3 3384 1314 3294 937

28000

358757730

248

416322662

222478824

234338715

2 598

353407

1 325563

21100

()6180448(B)

254

343260683

252433591

293320809(B)

291389550706

'Includes a small number of women who were riot supposed to receive payments in 1985.Ifiernanied women who's previous marriage ended In divorce.*Widowed women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.,Hleparic women may be of any race. 18

12

Table 2. Child Support Award StatusInclusion of Health Insurance in Award and Reasonfor Non-Award, by Characteristics of All Women and Women With Incomes Belowthe Poverty Level in 1985

(Numbers In thousands. Women with own children under 21 years of age present from absent fathers as of spring 1988. For meaning of symbols, see text)

Characteristic

Total

Awarded Not awarded

Total

HealthinsuranceIncluded

Healthinsurance

notIncluded Total

Reason for non-award

Finalagree-

meetpenang

Propertysettle-ment

In lieu

Jointcustodygranted

Did notwantchild

support

Wanted award but-

Unableto

locatefather

Unableto

establishpaternity

Someother

reason

ALL WOMENTotal

Standard error

Current Martial StatusMarried'Separated'DivorcedWidowed*Never married

Ras and Hispanic OriginWhiteBlackHispanic*

Age18 to 29 years30 to 39 years40 years and over

Years of School Completedisss then 12 years

gs,xchool: 4 yearsM1 to 3 years4 years Or more

Number of Own Children PresentFrom an Absent Father

One childTwo childrenThree childrenFour children or more

WOMEN MTH INCOMES BELOWTHE POVERTY LEVEL IN 1985

TotalStandard error

Current Martial StatusMarried'SeparatedDivorcedWidowed*Never married

Race and Hisparic OriginWhiteBlackHispanics

Age18 to 29 years30 to 39 years40 years and over

Years of School CompletedLess than 12 yearsMqh school: 4 yearsCollege 1 to 3 years

4 years or more

Numinr of Own Children PresentFrom an Absent Father

One childTwo childrenThree childrenFour children or more

8 808218

2 3221 3633 045

892 009

6 3412 310

813

2 8873 6142 307

2 2304 1761 653

748

4 6072 879

887458

2 797187

18064879518

i 159

1 5691 190

414

1 419920458

1 2441 168

33332

1 185940400272

5 396174

1 904587

2 49243

370

4 476839342

1 2682 5471 561

1 0092 6451 189

573

2 7831 953

502159

1 130120

121221572

9207

787322100

489485176

40452917720

47844314960

2 402118

818224

1 2551590

2 16721488

5011 142

758

3431 207

539312

1 161935224

81

41873

4983

252-53

3486520

17019949

1242138417

1761744424

2 995132

1 086363

1 23729

280

2 309625258

7871 405

803

6661 438

630281

1 6211 018

27878

71295

7119.83 20

9154

43925780

299288127

281315113

3

30228910538

3 411140

41877655328

1 839

1 8651 471

471

1 5991 066

748

1 2211 531

484175

1 824928384297

1 888145

59425223

9952

782888314

951435282

84068015812

707497252212

32944

1619520-

98

2348849

2337026

1111545015

194872027

17447

3113

7-

50

1155331

1283115

857413

1

92481222

68(B)

2011334-

844

10

-1553

19327

10

42215-

13(D)

-39--

121

5

1

12

67

10325

391536

14

9493

345514

2450219

583213

3

31

(3)

93

12-7

229-

1812-

12136-

141123

1 25788

188153217

10692

710506148

585437258

37662317288

73431611098

49079

1380672

328

24524290

291128

71

243204

348

2101477460

1 07580

88290153

8538

458598183

454331289

48942813443

493297189116

88192

24188853

381

245409142

320192149

358236

652

261182132

86

10928

6-18-

65

31755

543916

533917-

5334148

84(B)

1

-8-

55

23415

3723

4

3718

9-

301412

B

47053

6511276

4213

27519272

25812092

169205

6412

2531403344

23555

958343

131

120114

41

1574731

99107

3C-

9C9C193:

'Remarried women whose previc s marriage ended In divorce.*Widowed women whose previous marriage ended divorce.*Hispanic women may be of any race.

19

13

Table 3. Receipt of Child Support Payments in 1985-Women With Children Present, byType of Arrangement

(Numbers in thousands. Women with own children under 21 years of age present from absent fathers as of spring 1988. For meaning of symbols, see text)

Total due payments Amount of payments due In 1985

Number

Stand-ard

error 3499

$1to

$500

3999to

$1,000to

$1,499

$1,500to

$1,999

MOOto

$2,999

$3.000to

34,999

$5,000to

$8,999

$7,000and

over

AN Payments'

Percent of Payments Received In 1985:Total 4 381 158 190 535 751 650 1 000 882 206 187

0.0 1 138 92 57 189 278 192 230 174 12 60.1 to 24.9 362 48 2 42 48 57 97 78 15 2425.0 to 49.9 198 34 13 .40 22 19 60 34 6 450.0 to 74.9 348 45 13 49 52 68 69 68 17 1575.0 to 99.9 223 3 6 3 14 25 38 71 56 5 10100.0 and over 2 112 111 101 201 328 279 473 473 151 107

Wan Income from child tr.pport2 dollars.. 1 840 287 380 840 962 1 476 2 440 4 874 7 349Standard error dollars.. 51 58 27 35 51 57 93 227 530

Mean total money income dollars.. 13 753 7 053 9 910 12 990 12 715 13 425 18 438 18 480 23 089Standard error dollars.. 287 799 646 658 652 491 610 1 285 1 708

Number below poverty level 905 87 184 182139

199 124 22 11Standard error 107 33 48 48 51 40 (B) (B)

If Full Amount of Payments Were Received in 1985:

Mean income from child support, dollars.. 2 495 292 758 1 219 176 2 407 3 702 5 851 9 572Standard error dollars.. so 15 11 7 12 31 58 317

Mean total money income dollars.. 14 616 7 188 10 291 13 571 13 481 14 358 17 704 19 457 25 312Standard error dollars.. 287 796 645 854 648 484 596 1 270 1 880

Number below poverty levelStandard error

601101

8733

18145

16548

10537

17748

9334 03)

15(B)

Court-Ordered Payments

Percent of Payments Received in 1985:Total 2 751 126 128 365 460 468 610 523 104 95

0.00.1 to 24.9

921254

7439

392

14526

22432

16544

19168

14649

414

620

25.0 to 49.950.0 to 74.9

151225

3037

1313

3040

1434

1

51.4044

2628

611

45

75.0 to 99.9100.0 and over 1

147054

3079

356

12112

15141

23167

39230

47228

365

555

Mean Income from child support2 dollars.. 1 345 247 352 480 837 1 237 2 099 4 388 8 538Standard error dollars 60 ea 33 43 60 74 124 382 724

Mean total money home dollars.. 13 192 6 829 10 679 12 224 12 222 12 370 18 587 20 550 19 473Standard error dollars 326 1 031 818 859 614 651 748 2 249 1 700

NumberStandabelrde

poverty levelor

58586

56(8)

11338

13602 8232

13942

69(B)

12(B)

11(B)

If Full Amount of Payments Wore Received in 1985:Mean income from child support2 dollars.. 2 393 287 782 1 216 1 735 2 393 3 683 5 748 9 848

Standard error dollars 81 1 13 9 11 15 37 82 383Mean total money Income

Standard errordollars..dollars..

14 247327

81

951029

11 098818

12896056

13 120609

IL 528640

18 158724

212

912199

221

585694

erty o!Number below pov Im 511 56 110 65 74 125 51 9Standard em7r 81 (B) 38 33 (B) 40 (B) (B) (B)

Voluntaiy Written kreements

Percent of Payments Received in 1985:Total 1 441 92 56 128 248 173 352 325 101 80

0.0 184 33 11 28 51 27 31 28 80.1 to 24.9 94 24 16 11 13 32 18 425.0 to 49.9 38 (8) 10 6 14 850.0 to 74.9 106 25 7 16 15 23 34 6 575.0 to 99.9 75 21 2 10 15 31 9 2 5100.0 and over 945 75 45 65 153 103 223 227 85 45

Mean Income from chid support2 dollars.. 2 187 432 878 1 287 1 883 3 011 4 992Standard error dollars.. 93 50 56 89 80 1 33 280 B

Meer total money Income dollars.. 14 900 1111 9 500 14 477 14 194 15 302 15 7E4 18 425Standard error dollars.. 477 1 222 1 Or 3 1 771 730 1 035 1 110 B)

Number below poverty level 255 24 26 64 34 49 48 10S(zndard error 57 (B) (B) (B) (8) (B) (B) (B) (B)

If Full Amount of Payments Were Received in 1985:

Mean income from child support,Standard error

dollars..dollars..

2 70686

75121

1 22813

1 70719

2 43319

3 75256

5 55472

Mean total money incomeStandard error

dollars..dollars..

15 428477 B

91

818203

141

832092

141

640769

15785333

161

536020

181

987110

NumberStandard OM

below poverty level 22654

24(B)

26(8)

64(B)

30(B)

41(B)

34(B) (B) (B)

'Includes a small number of women whose arrangement type was 'other,' not shown separately.mean amount based on all women due payments, whether or not payments were received.

..011.la

14

Table 4. Alimony or Maintenance Payments Agreed to or Awarded, by Characteristics of AllWomen and Women With Incomes Below the Poverty Level in 1985

(Everdivorced or currently separated women as spring 1968. For meeting of symbols, see text)

Charecteds5c

Total(Thous.)

Alimony or maintenance payments-

Agreed to or awarded Not awarded

Total,(Thom)

Supposed to receive payments in 1985

Number(Thom)


Total(Thous.)

Received payments Did not receive payments

Number(Thm.)


Mean Income fromaarnony/malnt

Number(Thom)


Value(D01.)

Stand-ard

error(Da)

Value(Dot.)

StaffStand-

error(Da)

Value(Dot)

Stand-ard

error(D01.)

Value(D01-)

Stand-aid

error(Dot)

ALL WOMENTotal

Stendiad error

Current Marital StatusManisa'Widowed'DivorcedSeparated

Race and Hispanic OriginWhiteBeaHispanic"

Ave18 to 29 years3010 39 year40 years and over

Years of School CompletedLess than 12 yearsHigh school: 4 yearsCollege: 1 to 3 years

4 years Of MOM

Presence of Own ChildrenFrom an Absent Father

No children presentOne child or more present

Veer of Divorce or Separation1980 and tater1975 to 19791970 1974Before

t o1970

Work Experience In 1985Worked

Worked at full-Ume jobs50 to 52 weeks

Worked at part-time fobsDid not work

WOMEN WITH INCOMESBELOW THE POVERTYLEVEL IN 1985

TotalStandard error

Current Marital StatusMarried'Widowed*DivorcedSeparated

Race and Hispanic OriginWhiteBlackHispanic1

Age18 to 29 yews30 to 39 yews40 yews and over

Presence of Own ChildrenFrom an Absent Father

No children presentOne chikl or more present

19 156300

7 3611 1888 0002 810

18 0392 7661 196

2 8175 878

10 882

5 0698 3783 5582 150

12 3578 799

7 7643 9212 4095 002

13 04710 1777 7012 8898 110

3 716214

624309

1 8001 082

2 870973410

6511 0901 774

2 0771 838

2 803127

1 015159

1 368261

2 539220132

218818

1 969

6001 280

542381

2 028777

962440468935

1 9031 4541 103

449900

43474

5539

247e3

3764935

88111237

266188

84071

891

604146

7527042

107270484

144383181152

452388

5591349948

819455325164221

17547

31

11081

152

129

558554

72103

61680

62

443120

6594429

62195358

97275119125

322293

43a885930

483331233132153

10837

2-

8244

97119

234530

4187

17 781(X)

19 42512 891

18 012

iM

(13)18 91219 621

11 C5114 42022 00625 378

18 08817 445

18 04917 012

iti3

20 93323 95227 34113 3548 245

5 262(X)

111

6 301

iE3

ill

(B)

943(X)

1 1F331 859

1 008

(B)1 6201 287

1 4111 1641 8602 711

1 3791 271

1 0942 255

(B)

1 1221 3251 5291 882

830

780(X)

ilE31

859

n

61

M

Bi

itE3ii

(B)

3 733(X)

3 9163 083

3 858

iM

3200(1:

4 385

3 5742 5885 9074 300

4 2413 174

4 0463 245

$i

3 8344 OM4 3323 4043 425

1 452(X)

13

IlliB

1 485

iS3

111:11

$3

294(X)

360624

316

M

(131447423

637318913882

450381

375587

(B)

348447554454553

557(X)

B

11313)

B

810

(B)

111

(B)

22537

371

16126

1932513

4576

108

471084227

12995

121473918

1581249232ea

(B)ea

1

14817

5510i

222024

3138

11 282(X)

11 611R(B)

11 413

ill;

11 1T1113 685

(B)11 279

iS3

12 08510 142

10 151pitils

14 53116 75218 152

it%

R

1

II

I

I

1 096(X)

ii1 3

(B)

1 203

(B)

(B)1 8881 737

(B)1 484

)$)

1 5071 559

1 429

iltil

1 3381 4901 743

i2

(B)

1;11

pgi

113i

I(B)(B)

18 354283

7 416 6322 348

13 500I sgs

2 8015 0608 693

4 4707 0983 0181 770

10 3318 023

8 803

3 40814 067

11 1448 7238 598

S gO

3 281201

470270

1 Stil

2 33i

378

765

1 637

1 8111 470

11 738(X)

13 110214 3469 814

12 108s Ng

8 91813 52411 538

8 33411 35614 73421 790

11 47112 190

12 596

S19 115

16 01717 18819 239

74 VII

3 825(X)

1 9003 917

3835

3 g14

4 078

3 478

1 314

2 9994 395

144(X)

236419224349

-...1318598

273270

200

156192348803

183232

223332420253

175200218217168

180(X)

475324219290

195276645

310330215

18026C

'Includes women who were not supposed to receive pa= in 1065.'Remarried women whooe previous MIO71880 ended 10'Widowed women whose previous marriage ended In diverte."Hiepanic women may be of any race. 21

15

Table 5. Property Settlements Folio-wing DivorceEver-Divorced Women, by Characteristics(Numbers in thou minds. Women as of spring 1966. For meaning of Gyobols, sea text)

Characteristic

Total

No eettiement reached Property settlement reached

Total'

Rec red-

Total'

Received- Type of settlement

Milosupport

onlyAlimony

unly

ChildsuPP0rt

andalimony

Childsupport

onlyAlimony

only

MildsuPPort

andalimony

Cash@only

Othertypes@

only

Cash=and

otherhim"

Total 16 547 10 663 1 352 60 55 5 833 1 107 264 116 1 272 4 363 246Standard error 284 237 89 (B) (B) 181 61 40 26 87 157 38

Current Marital StatusDNorcxxl 8 000 4 880 831 55 43 3 131 649 230 109 736 2 289 108Married* 7 381 4 893 508 5 6 2 468 448 34 7 507 1 841 120Widowed, 1 188 901 12 - - 285 11 30 234 21

Race and Hispanic OriginWhite 14 408 9 076 1 179 42 51 5 330 1 014 249 115 1 179 4 007 144Black 1 832 1 373 160 18 3 459 73 6 2 67 303 89Hispanic* 866 619 64 3 5 247 61 2 47 188 11

Aga18 to 29 yam 2 046 1 535 329 2 10 511 1 8 13 126 375 1030 to 39 years 4 950 3 108 674 12 31 1 844 624 75 38 427 1 379 3840 years and over 9 550 6 022 349 46 14 3 528 320 181 65 719 2 609 200

Yaws of School CompletedLess than 12 years 4 146 2 975 200 14 7 1 171 147 39 3 218 891 62=9e:9chool: 4 years

1 to 3 years7 3543 091

4 7351 910

659351

2511

338

2 6191 182

549248

10857

6322

544261

1 958874

11946

4 yews Of more 1 955 1 044 142 10 7 911 163 62 27 249 641 21

Presence of Own Children Froman Absent Father

No children presentOne child or more present

11 1105 438

7 1973 466 1

(X)352

4911

(X)55

3 9131 970 1

(X)107 116

833439

21

887477

19454

Year of Divorce1980 and later 5 900 3 642 816 20 39 2 258 653 183 93 558 1 605 951975 to 1979 3 640 2 289 388 15 13 1 351 277 30 13 334 961 551970 to 1974 2 287 1 470 135 14 3 817 117 33 10 197 570 51Before 1970 4 720 3 262 35 12 - 1 457 60 18 164 1 227 48

',learn* In 1985Without income 898 663 (X) 235 (X) (X) 41 171 23With incorne 15 849 10 000 1 352 22 55 5 648 1 107 264 116 1 231 4 192 225

S1 to 5999 or loss 1 092 775 38 - 317 28 7 65 230 2231.000 to 51,999 578 402 44 - - 176 32 2 2 32 140 4$2.000 to 83.999 1 615 1 158 104 7 8 457 88 15 3 84 360 13$4,000 to $5,999 1 551 1 096 69 12 - 455 76 15 75 354 2656.000 to $7,999 1 541 1 055 101 4 4 487 95 28 11 89 383 1558.000 to $9,999 1 093 733 101 3 5 361 53 21 9 88 290 5$10.000 to 511,999 1 082 680 107 3 3 382 61 18 10 76 282 24512.000 to 514,999 1 619 993 180 2 - 625 122 22 16 188 424 33$15,000 to $19,999 2 055 1 276 248 4 11 779 217 30 24 174 591 14S20.000 to 524,999 1 395 782 172 12 16 612 155 20 13 182 408 24$25,000 and ova- 2 048 1 051 188 13 8 997 183 84 28 220 733 45

PAelan incomeStandard error

dollars..dollars..

10 887196

9 405227

13 871511

e

18141

s 12 V)411 15 gll 13 (3z 18 420 14 gril 12 4328 121 7gg

Mean incomeStandard error

dollars..dollars..

12 973150

11 848176

14 993460

El

e14 2700

270739 11

558 1 65011

1 64216 127

59114 642

311111 344

'Detail does not add to total because some ever-divorced women received neither child support nor alimony, not shown separately.@A one-time cash settlement'Other property (e.g., house, other real estate, cars, or furnishings).4Rerneirried women whose previous marriage ended in divorce.*Widowed women whoso previous marriage ended in divorce.@Hispanic women may be of any race.

22

17

Appendix A. Definitions and Explanations

Child support. Data on award of child support payments werecollected from women 18 years or older with children under21 years of age whose father was not living in the householdas of spring 1986. Information on recipiency and amount ofpayments was obtained from women who reported that theywere awarded or had agreements to receive child supportpayments in 1985. For ever-married women, paymentamounts were limited to only those from the last divorce orseparation.

Alimony. Data on the award of alimony or maintenancepayments were collected tn..7n women 18 years or older whowere ever-divorced or currently separated as of spring 1986.Information on recipiency status and payment amounts wasobtained from those women who reported that they wereawarded or had agreements to receive alimony payments in1985. The data are limited to payments received from the mostrecent divorce or separation.

Property settlements. Data on property settlements were col-lected from women 18 years or older who were ever-divorcedas of spring 1986. For the purposes of this survey, a propertysettlement consists of a one -tine cash settlement or otherproperty (i.e., house, other real estate, car, or furniture) or acombination of both.

Age, The age classification is based on the age of the womanat her :ast birthday.

Race. The population is divided into three groups on the basisof race: White, Black, and "other races." The last category in-cludes American Indians, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and anyother race except White and Black.

Women of Hispanic origin. Hispanic women were identifiedby a question that asked for self-identification of the women'sorigin or descent. Respondents were asked to select theirorigin (and the origin of other household members) from a"flash card" listing ethnic origins. Women of Hispanic origin,in particular, were those who indicated that their origin wasMexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American,or some other Hispanic origin. It should be noted that Hispanicwomen can be of any race.

Years of school completed. Data on years of school completedwere derived from the combination of answers to questionsconcerning the highest grade of school attended by thewoman and whether cr not that grade was finished. The ques-

tions on educational attainment apply only to progress in"regular" schools. Such schools include graded public andprivate elementary and high schools (both junior and seniorhigh), colleges, universities, and professional schools, whether

day schools or night schools. Thus, regular schooling is thatwhich may advance a woman toward ar elementary schoolcertificate or a high school diploma, or a college, university,or professional school degree. Schooling in other than regularschools was counted only if the credits obtained were regard-ed as transferable to a school in the regular school system.

Marital status. The marital status classification refers to thestatus at the time of enumeration. Women classified as "mar-ried" or "widowed" consist of those who remarried after hav-ing been divorced. Women classified as separated are eitherlegally separated or otherwise absent from their spousebecause of marital discord. Women in common-law marriagesare classified as married, and women who are single or whoseonly marriage was annulled are classified as never married.

Year of divorce or separation. The year of divorce or separa-tion reflects the year of marital dissolution. For women whowere divorced or separated more than once, it is the year ofmost recent divorce or separation. For divorces that requirea formal (legal) separation, the year reflects the year the ac-tual divorce took place.

Children from an absent father. Children from an absent fatherare a woman's sons and daughters (including adopted children)

whose father was not living in the same household. The ques-tionnaire was designed to count children from an absent fatheronly when at least one such child in the household is under21 years of age.

Money income. Income distributions and income summarymeasures (such as medians and means) shown in this reportare limited to money income before payment of Federal, State,local, or Social Security (FICA) taxes and before any othertypes of deductions, such as union dues and Medicarepremiums. Total money income is the sum of the amountsreceived from wages and salaries, self-employment income(including losses), Social Security, Supplemental Security In-come, public assistance, interest, dividends, rent, royalties,estates or trusts, veterans' payments, unemployment andworkers' compensations, private and government retirementand disability pensions, child support, alimony, and any othersource of money income which was regularly received. Capitalgains (or losses) and lump-sum or one-time payments suchas life insurance settlements are excluded.

Poverty definition. Families and unrelated individuals areclassified as being above or below the poverty level using thepoverty index originated at the Social Security Administrationin 1964 and revised by Federal Interagency Committees in1969 and 1980. The poverty index is based solely on moneyincome and does not reflect the fact that many low-incomepersons receive food stamps, Medicaid, and public housing.

18N..._...,..11M111711111r.

The index is based on the Department of Agriculture's 1961Economy Food Plan and reflects the different consumptionrequirements of families based on their size and composition.It was determined from the Department of Agriculture's 1955Survey of Food Consumption that families of three or morepersons spend approximately one-third of their income onfood; the poverty level for these families was, therefore, setat three times the cost of the economy food plan. For smallerfamilies and persons living alone, the cost of the economy foodplan was multiplied by factors that were slightly higher in orderto compensate for the relatively larger fixed expenses of thesesmaller households. The poverty thresholds are updated everyyear to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Theaverage poverty threshold for a family of four was 510,989411985. Weighted average poverty thresholds by size of familyare shown in table A-1. For further details, see Current Popula-tion Reports, Series P-60, No. 152.

Table A-1. Weighted Average PovertyThresholds in 1985

Size of family unit Threshold

One person (unreiated individual) $ 5,46915 to 64 years 5,59365 years and over 5,156

Two persons 6,998Householder 15 to 64 years 7,231Householder 65 years and over 6,503

Three persons 8,573Four persons 10,989Five persons 13,007Six persons 14,696Seven persons 16,656Eight persons 18,512Nine persons or more 22,083

Computation of constant dollar means. The adjustment forprice change was made by converting the mean income forwomen in 1983 into 1985 dollars on the basis of the change

in the Consumer Price Index. The indices used to make theconstant dollar conversions are shown in table A-2.

Table A-2. Consumer Price Index (CPI): 1977to 1985

(1977 = 100)

Year CPI Year CPI

1977 100.0 1981 150.11978 107.7 1982 159.31979 119.8 1983 164.41980 136.0 1984 171.4

1985 177.5

Source: Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an index designed tomeasure changes in purchasing power. While the CPI is a good

measure of the changes in prices, it is not necessarily a goodmeasure of the changes in prices faced by consumers of dif-ferent characteristics and income levels. Furthermore, thehousing component of the CPI has been criticized for con-tributing to unduly large increases in the CPI over the pastseveral years. These limitations should be noted when com-paring income figures adjusted to constant dollars using theCPI since the same index was used for all women and all in-come levels.

Underreporting. As in most household surveys, the estimatesof the number of money income recipients and the totalamount of money income derived from the March CPS aresomewhat less than comparable estimates derived from in-dependent sources, such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis,Social Security Administration, and Veterans Administration.The difference between the survey estimate and the indepen-dent estimate is generally termed "underreporting:' Under-reporting tends to be more pronounced for incoml sourcessuch as public assistance and welfare, unemployment com-pensation, and property income (interest, dividends, and netrental income). Estimates of income from weries and salariestend to have less underreporting than most income types.

24

19

Appendix B. Source and Reliability of Estimates

SOURCE OF DATA

The estimates of child support and alimony in this reportare based on data obtained in March and April 1986 from theCurrent Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the Bureau ofthe Census and from supplementary questions to the CPS.The present CPS sample was selected from the 1980 censusfiles with coverage in all 50 States and the District of Colum-bia. The sample is continually updated to reflect new construc-tion. The current sample is located in 729 areas comprising1,973 counties, independent cities, and minor civil divisionsin the Nation.

In the March sample, approximately 60,500 occupiedhouseholds were eligible for interview. Of this number, about2,500 occupied units were visited but interviews were ;rotobtained because the occupants were not found at home afterrepeated calls or were unavailable for some other reason.

Questions relating to labor force participation are askedabout each member in every sample household. In addition,in March 1986 supplementary questions were asked aboutincome, and in April 1986 supplementary questions wereasked about child support and alimony for previously divorced,currently separated, and never-married women. The CPS haseight rotation groups being interviewed in a month. In March,all eight rotations were asked income questions. in April, on-ly the six rotations that were the same as in March were us-ed to identify eligible women for the April supplement. About42,200 of the households interviewed in March were inter-viewed again in April. Women 18 years of age and older wereasked supplemental questions regarding child support andalimony payments. Of the 43,091 eligible women interviewedin March, 37,671 were matched to women interviewed inApril. Child support and alimony information was imputed forthe other 5,420 eligible women. Table B-1 gives the samplesizes and imputation rates by marital status.

CPS Estimation Procedure

The estimation procedure used in this survey involved theinflation of the weighted sample results to independentestimates of the total civilian noninstitutional population ofthe United States by age, race, sex, and Hispanic/non-Hispanic

categories. These independent estimates are based onstatistics from the 1980 decennial census; statistics on births,deaths, immigration and emigration; and statistics on thestrength of the Armed Forces.

The estimates in this report are also based on revisedHispanic weighting procedure for persons of Hispanic origin.

-41almEm.. =1IMMIMIN,

In previous years, the estimation procedures used in thissurvey involved the inflation of weighted sample results toindependent estimates of the noninstitutional population byage, sex, and race. There was, therefore, no specific controlof the survey estimates for the Hispanic population. Duringthe last several years, the Bureau of the Census has developedindependent population controls for the Hispanic populationby sex and detailed age groups and has adopted 'revisedweighting procedures to incorporate these new controls. Itshould be noted that the independent population estimatesinclude some, but not all, illegal immigrants.

The estimation procedure for the data in the report also in-volves a further adjustment so that husband and wife of ahousehold mceive the same weight.

RELIABILITY OF ESTIMATES

Since the CPS estimates were based on a sample, they maydiffer somewhat from the figures that would have beenobtained if a complete census had been taken using the samequestionnairee, instructions, and enumerators. There are twotypes ciimrs possible in an estimate based on a samplesurvey: sampling an nonsampling. The accuracy of a surveyresult depends on both typos of errors, but the full extent ofthe nonsampling error is unknown. Consequently, particularcare should be exercised in the interpretation of figures basedon a relatively small number of cases or on small differ . -ices

between estimates. The standard errors provided for the CPSestimates primarily indicate the magnitude of the samplingerror. They also partially measure the effect of some non-sampling errors in responses and enumeration, but they donot measure any systematic "irises in the data. (Bias is thedifference, averaged over all possible samples, between theestimate and the desired value.)

Nonsampling variability. Nonsampling errors can be attributedto many sources, e.g., inability to obtain information about allcases in the sample, definitional difficulties, differences in theinterpretation of quc..dons, inability or unwillingness on thepart of the respondents to provide correct information, inabilityto recall information, errors made in collection such as inrecording or coding the data, errors made in processing thedata, errors made in estimating values for missing data, andfailure to represent all units with the sample (undercoverage).

Undercoverage in the CPS results from missed housing unitsand missed persons within sample households. Overall under-coverage, as compared to the level of the 1980 decennialcensus, is about 7 percent. It is known that CPS under-

25

20

covele varies with age, sex, and race. Generally, under-coven.ge is larger for males than for females and larger forBlacks anci other races combined than for Whites. Ratioestimation to independent age-sex-race-Hispanic populationcontrols partially corrects for the bias due to survey under-coverage. However, biases exist in the estimates to the extentthat missed persons in missed households or missed personsin interviewed households have different characteristics thaninterviewed persons in the same age-sex-race-Hispanic group.

Further, the independent population controls used have notbeen ad;osted for undercoverage in the 1980 census.

In these tabulations, the nonsampling error due to imputingvalues for missing data may be particularly severe. This isbecause the imputation rates for divorced and separatedwomen are over 20 percent. Imputation procedures areintended to reduce nonsampling error due to missing data,but with such high imputation rates the procedures lose someeffectiveness. Therefore, particular caution should be used ininterpreting the data in these tabulations.

In most cases, the questionnaire entries for income arebased on the memory or knowledge of one person. The mostcommon respondent for this report was the femalehouseholder. The memory factor in data derived from fieldsurveys of income probably produces underestimates becausethe tendency is to forget minor or irregular sources of income.Other errors of reporting are due to misrepresentation or tomisunderstanding as to the scope of the income concept. Seealso the section entitled "Underreporting of Income" of anearlier report (Series P-60, No. 151.)

For additional information on nonsampling error includingthe possible impact on CPS data when known, refer toStatistical Policy Working Par 3, Ao Error Profile: Ern.v,oy-ment as Measured by the Current Population Survey, Officeof Federal Statistical Policy and Standards, U.S. Departmentof Commerce, 1978, and Technical Paper 40, The CurrentPopulation Survey: Design and Methodology, Bureau of theCensus, U.S. Department of Commerce.

Sampling variability. The standard errors given in the followingtables are primarily measures of sampling variability, that is,of the variations that occurred by chance because a samplerather than the entire population was surveyed. The sampleestimate and its standard error enable one to constructconfidence intervals, ranges that would include the averageresults of all possible samples with a known probability. Forexample, if all possible samples were selected, each of thesebeing surveyed under essentially the same general conditionsand using the same sample design, and if an estimate andits standard error were calculated from each sample, then:

1. Approximately 95 percent of the intervals from twostandard errors below the estimate to two standard errorsabove the estimate would include the average result of allpossible samples.

2. Approxirr ately 90 percent of the intervals from 1.6standard errors below the estimate to 1.6 standard errors

above the estimate would include the average result of allpossible samples.

The average estimate derived from all possible samples isor is not contained in any particular computed interval.However, for a particular sample, one can say with specifiedconfidence that th3 average estimate derived from all possi-ble samples is included in the confidence interval.

Standard errors may also be used to perform hypothesistesting, a procedure for distinguishing between populationparameters using sample estimates. Tests may be performedat various levels of significance, where a level of significanceis the probability of concluding that the characteristics aredifferent when, in fact, they are identical.

To perform the most common test, let x and y be sampleestimates for two characteristics of interest. Let the standarderror on the difference x-y be SDIFF If the ratio R = (x-Y)ISDIFFis between -2 and +2, no conclusion about the diffc:encebetween the characteristics is justified at the 0.05 level ofsignificance. If, however, this ratio is smaller than -2 or largerthan +2, the observed difference is significant at the 0.05level. In this event, it is commonly accepted practice to saythat the characteristics are different. Of course, sometimesthis conclusion will be wrong. When the characteristics are,in fact, the same, there is a 5-percent chance of concludin3that they ure different. For the other differences mentioned,the estimated difference between characteristics is between1.6 and 2.0 times the standard error of the difference.

Note when using small estimates. Summary measures suchas medians, means, and percentages are shown only whenthe base is 75,000 or greater. Because.of the large standarderrors involved, there is little chance that summary measures

would reveal useful information when computed on a smallerbase. Estimated numbers of persons are shown, however, eventhough the relative standard errors of these numbers are largerthan those for corresponding summary measures. Thesesmaller estimates are provided primarily to permit such com-binations of the categories as serve each data user's needs.

Comparability of data. Data obtained from the CPS and othersources are not entirely comparable. This is due in large partto differences in interviewer training and experience and indiffering survey processes. This is an additional componentof error not reflected in the standard error tables. Therefore,caution should be used in comparing resorts between thesedifferent sources.

Table B-1. Sample Sizes and Imputation Rates

Marital status

Imputation

Sample size Cases Rates

Total 43,091 5,420 12.6Married or widowed 30,536 3,197 10.5Divorced 3,717 844 22.7Separated 1,149 324 23.2Never married 7,689 1,055 13.7

26

21

Standard error tables and their use. In order to derive standard

errors that would be applicable to a larger number of estimatesand which could be prepared at a moderate cost, a numberof approximations were required. Therefore, instead of pro-viding an individual standard error for each estimate,generalized sets of standard errors are provided for varioustypes of characteristics. As a result, the sets of standard errorsprovided give an indication of the order of magnitude of thestandard error of an estimate rather than the precise standarderror.

The figures presented in table B-2 are approximations tothe standard errors of various estimates of levels for womenin the United States. To obtain the approximate standard errorfor a specific characteristic, the appropriate standard error intables B-2 and B-3 must be multiplied by the factor for thatcharacteristic given in table B-4. These factors must be appliedto the generalized standard errors in order to adjust for thecombined effect of the sample design and the estimatingprocedure on the value of the characteristic.

Standard errors for intermediate values not shown in thegeneralized tables of standard errors may be approximated bylinear interpolation.

Two parameters (denoted "a" and "b") are used to calculatestandard errors for each type of characteristic; they arepresented in table B-4. These parameters were used tocalculate the standard errors in tables B-2 and B-3 and tocalculate the factors in table B-4. They also may be used todirectly calculate the standard errors for estimated numbersand percentages. Methods for computation are given in thefollowing sections.

Standard errors of estimated numbers. The approximatestandard error, Sx, of an estimated number shown in thisreport can be obtained in two ways. It may be obtained byuse of the formula

Sx = fs (1)

Table B-2. Standard Errors of Estimated Numbersof Women: 1985

(Numbers in thousands)

Size of estimateStandarderror Size of estimate

Standarderror

10 5 6,000 12575 14 7,000 134250 26 8,000 142500 37 9,000 1501,000 52 10,000 1572,000 74 11,000 1643,000 90 12,000 1704,000 103 13,000 1765,000 114 15,000 187

17,000 196

Note: For a particular characteristic, see table B -4 for the appropriatefactor to apply to the above standard errors. For reference, the standarderrors in tables B -2 and 83 were calculated using a = -0.000030 andb = 2,769.

where f is the appropriate factor from table B-4, and S is thestandard error on the estimate obtained by interpolation fromtable B-2. Alternatively, the standard error may be approx-imated by formula (2), from which the standard errors in tableB-2 were calculated. Use of this formula wili provide moreaccurate results than the use of formula (1) above.

Sx = a)\./77-bx+- (2)

Here, x is the size of the estimate, and a and b are theparameters in table B-4 associated with the particularcharacteristic.

Standard errors of estimated percentages. The reliability ofan estimated percentage computed, using sample data forboth numerator and denominator, depends upon both the sizeof the percentage and the size of the total upon which thispercentage is based. Estimated percentages are relativelymore reliable than the corresponding estimates of the

Table B-3. Standard Errors of Estimated Percentages of Women: 1985

Base of estimated Estimated percentagepercentage(thousands) 2 or 98 5 or 95 10 or 90 25 or 75 50

75 2.7 4.2 5.8 8.3 9.6200 1.7 2.6 3.5 5.1 5.9300 1.4 2.1 2.9 4.2 4.8400 1.2 1.8 2.5 3.6 4.2500 1.0 1.6 2.2 3.2 3.7600 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.9 3.4800 0.8 1.3 1.8 2.6 2.91,000 0.7 1.2 1.6 2.3 2.61,200 0.7 1.1 1.4 2.1 2.41,500 0.6 0.9 1.3 1.9 2.22,000 0.5 0.8 1.1 1.6 1.93,000 0.4 0.7 0.9 1.3 1.54,000 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.1 1.35,000 0.3 0.5 0.7 1.0 1.210,000 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.815,000 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.717,000 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.6

Note: For a particular characteristic, see table B -4 for the appropriate factor to apply to the above standard errors.

27

22

numerators of the percentages, part'cularly if the percentagesare 50 percent or more. When the numerator and denominatorof the percentage are in different categories, use the factoror parameters from table 8-4 indicated by the numerator. Theapproximate standard error, S(x,p), of an estimated percen-tage can be obtained by use of the formula

S(x,p) = fs (3)

In this formula, f is the appropriate factor from table B-4and S is the standard error on the estimate from table B-3.Alternatively, the standard error may be approximated by thefollowing formula, from which the standard errors in table B-3were calculated. Use of this formula will give more accurateresults than use of formula (3) above.

S(x,p) = V(b/x) (p) (100-p) (4)

Here, x is the size of the subclass of women which is the baseor xhe percentage, p is the percentage (0 <p <100), and b isthe parameter in table B-4 associated with the particularcharacteristic in the numerator of the percentage.

Standard error cf a difference. For a difference between twosample estimates, the standard error is approximately equal to

si .A42 4-1s2lx-Y, x y

(5)

where S., and Sy are the standard errors of the estimates xand y, respectively. The estimates can be of numbers,percents, ratios, etc. This will represent the actual standarderror quite accurately for the difference between twoestimates of the same characteristic in two different areas,or for the difference between separate and uncorrelatedcharacteristics in the same area. If, however, there is a highpositive (negative) correlation between the twocharacteristics, the formula will overestimate (underestimate)the true standard error.

Standard error of a median. The sampling variability of anestimated median depends upon the form of the distributionas well as the size of its base. An approximate method formeasuring the reliability of an estimated median is todetermine a confidence interval about it. (See the section onsampling variability for a general discussion of confidenceintervals.) The following procedure may be used to estimatethe 68-percent confidence limits of a median based onsample data.

(1) Determine, using the standard error tables and factors orformula (4), the standard error of the estimate of 50 per-cent from the distribution.

(2) Add to and subtract from 50 percent the standard errordetermined in step (1).

Table B-4. "a" and "b" Parameters and "f" Factors forCalculating Approximate Standard Errors ofEstimated Numbers and Percentages ofWomen: 1985

Characteristic

Parameter

a bf

factor

INCOME

Women

Total or White -0.000030 2,769 1.00Black -0.000243 3,165 1.07Hispanic' -0.000839 5,334 1.39

Families


Women Below the Poverty Level


NONINCOME

Number of Women with ChildrenWhose Fathers are Absent

Marital status:Total or White -0.000066 5,972 1.47Black -C.000658 8,566 1.76Hispanic' - 0.002::7214,436 2.28

Selected characteristics of women:Educational attainment -0.060034 3,075 1.05Employment -0.000025 2,294 0.91Unemployment -0.000032 2,934 1.03

Selected characteristics of families:Tenure -0.000026 2,365 0.92

Note: The f factor must be multiplied by the standard errorobtained in tables B-2 and B-3 for the characteristic of interest.To obtain standard error parameters by residence, multiply theabove parameters by a factor of 1.0 for metropolitan residence,1.5 for nonmetropolitan residence, 0.75 for Northeast; 0.92 forMidwest; 1.03 for South; 1.07 for West; and 0.91 for the Northand West combined.

'Hispanic women may be of any race.

(3) Using the distribution of the characteristic, calculate the68-percent confidence interval by calculating the valuescorresponding to the two points established in step (2).

(4) Once the limits of the 68-percent confidence interval arecomputed, the standard error of a median can be com-puted by the formula

U - LSmedian 2

whereU = Upper limit of the 68-percent confidence interval.L = Lower limit of the 68-percent confidence interval.

23

Standard error of an estimated arithmetic mean. The standarderror of an arithmetic mean can be approximated by formula(6) below. Because of the approximations used in developingformula (6), an estimate of the standard error of the mean ob-tained from that formula will generally underestimate the truestandard error. The formula used to estimate the standard errorof a mean is

SR = ( I\71; 7 (6)

In this formula, y is the size of the base of the distribution,and b is a parameter which depends on the sample size, thesample design, the estimation procedure, and thecharacteristic. The values of b are given in table B-4. Thevariance, s2, is given by the following formula:

C2 _.2S2 = pi xi x

i = 1

*U.S. G.P.O. 1987-181-064:60047

(7)

where rc is the mean of the distribution estimated by theexpression

cg = I pi xi

i = 1

c is the number of groups; i indicates a specific group,thus taking on values 1 through c;

pi is the estimated proportion of women whosevalues, for the characteristic (x-values) being con-sidered, fall in group i.

)7 = (Z11 + Zi) /2 where Zi4 and Zi are the lower andupper interval boundaries, respectively, for groupI This is assumed to be the most representativevalue for the characteristic for women in group i.Group c is open-ended, i.e., no upper intervalboundary exists. For this group an approximateaverage value is x .2z

c 2 c-1

29

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