Research & Publications

Damages: Estimating Pecuniary Loss (Chapter 12)

by Cara L. Brown

Chapter 12 - Costs of Raising Children and the Federal Child Support Guidelines

Applying economic analysis to the Federal Child Support Guidelines, Chapter 12 looks at the legal and policy principles that form the foundation of the Guidelines, the cost of raising children formula that is the basis for them, and use of the Guidelines to determine the payor's income level. To contrast the Guidelines, economic estimates are provided from many different data sources regarding the costs of raising children. This survey includes an overview of consensus finding in this regard.