Figure 3.9 How Award Amount was Determined

Figure 3.9 indicates the method used to determine the amount of the child support award according to the information available to the data-capture clerks. In 17,185 cases (53.2 percent of non-missing responses to this item), the file indicated that the Guidelines were followed. The second most frequently reported method was a prior order or agreement that dealt with child support (3,639 cases; 11.3 percent). In 28.8 percent of the cases, the method used for determining the support amount was coded as “unknown/not stated” or no indication was given of how the support amount was calculated.