Gender, Families, and State Child Support Policy in the United States

by Josephson, Jyl J.

• ISBN13: 9780847683727
• ISBN10: 0847683729
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-12-19
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

This insightful and original book is the first to examine the relationship between families and the state in the United States, both in theory and in practice, using child support policy as a lens of analysis. Josephson cogently presents the origins, evolution, and organization of federal child support programs and persuasively demonstrates how some child support enforcement policies, rather than increasing women's access to economic resources, expand government and social control over the beneficiaries. Drawing on the literature of both feminist political theory and public policy implementation, Josephson analyzes the impact of family law and social welfare policies through several empirical case studies. This is important reading for anyone interested in political theory, public policy, and women's relationship to the state.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
Families and the State in a Liberal Republic	1	(28)
The United States as a Liberal Republican Regime	3	(2)
Families in a Liberal Republic	5	(6)
The Normative Functions of Family Law	11	(4)
Regime Principles and the Families-State Nexus	15	(8)
Public-Domestic and Child Support	23	(3)
Notes	26	(3)
Federal Child Support Law and Policy	29	(28)
A Brief History of Child Support	29	(3)
The Institutional Transformation of Child Support Enforcement	32	(10)
The Public Goals of Child Support Enforcement	42	(4)
Data and Studies of Child Support	46	(6)
Notes	52	(5)
Child Support in the States: Maryland and Texas	57	(38)
Toward Administrative Ordering	59	(8)
Implementing Child Support Policy	67	(9)
Cost Savings versus Social Welfare	76	(7)
Performance	83	(9)
Conclusions	92	(1)
Notes	92	(3)
Child Support Policy in Practice	95	(32)
Court Case Samples: Description and Analysis	96	(6)
Survey Results	102	(6)
Individual Interview Results	108	(16)
Conclusions	124	(2)
Notes	126	(1)
Feminism, Women, and Child Support	127	(20)
Feminism and Families	127	(2)
The Dual Systems of Welfare and Child Support	129	(9)
Women and Family Law	138	(5)
Conclusion	143	(1)
Notes	144	(3)
Child Support and the Families-State Relation	147	(26)
Child Support, Families, and State Purposes	147	(6)
Improving Child Support	153	(6)
Rethinking Family Policy in a Liberal Republic	159	(7)
Solving the Problems of Real-World Families	166	(3)
Conclusion	169	(2)
Notes	171	(2)
Appendix A Legislative Histories	173	(12)
Appendix B Child Support Administrators Interviewed	185	(2)
Appendix C Methodology, Survey, and Results	187	(10)
References	197	(12)
Index	209	(2)
About the Author	211