Coverage of Child-support Schemes Vary Widely Across OECD Countries a)

% of sole
parents
receiving child
support
Austria (2004)

54.2

Belgium (2000)
Denmark (2004)

% of coupleparent families
receiving child
support

% of families
making child
support
payments

5.4

7.0

39.3

3.8

90.5

12.2

Estonia (2004)

26.1

2.6

Finland (2004)

48.0

4.1

France (2000)

29.9

Germany (2004)

33.5

Greece (2004)
Hungary (2005)
Ireland (2004)

b)

% of children in
% of children in
families receiving
families paying
child support (as % child support (as %
of all children)
of all children)

Average childAverage childsupport payment

support payment
receives as
made as
% of average
% of average
disposable income disposable income
13.2
10.9

11.0

6.7

2.7

8.3

2.4

8.7

11.9

8.6

26.6

8.3

6.6

5.4

5.5

9.2

5.0

18.6

9.5

2.4

11.6

2.2

7.7

6.9

2.2

2.9

6.1

2.5

13.6

2.4

1.7

4.8

7.6

4.7

18.5

14.1

33.2

6.7

8.0

8.1

6.8

15.9

20.5

33.9

2.7

2.5

8.0

1.8

4.8

6.9

14.6

2.3

7.6

5.2

7.1

18.4

10.0

Italy (2004)

22.2

0.1

0.7

1.4

0.6

20.4

13.1

Netherlands (2004)

36.5

6.7

9.9

10.5

9.0

12.6

10.8

Poland (2004)

30.8

1.2

0.5

4.9

0.4

22.3

15.0

55.6

1.9

3.5

7.4

3.0

10.4

9.1

26.7

1.2

4.4

2.8

4.3

17.7

10.2

Slovenia (2004)
Spain (2004)

b)

Sweden (2005)

100.0

9.0

4.1

29.8

4.3

7.8

5.9

United Kingdom (2004)

21.9

3.7

2.8

8.7

2.6

12.1

11.4

Norway (2000)

76.0

11.3

8.7

23.8

9.3

7.0

7.8

Switzerland (2004)

66.8

3.1

Australia (2003)

37.3

3.8

4.1

11.2

3.8

10.9

11.7

Canada (2004)

38.9

4.0

4.1

10.5

4.0

11.7

9.9

United States (2004)

32.9

6.3

Empty cells: Data not available.

Note: The year that the data refers to is shown in brackets. Families are defined as households with at least one child under 18.

10.0

13.2

26.4

11.8

(a) Child-support receipt rates and child-support amounts as a proportion of disposable income. (b) Denotes when a weighted country sample is small (<200 cases).
Source: OECD, Doing Better for Families, Paris 2011, p. 231.