What financial aid do households directly provide to other households within the United States? This report covers monetary assistance regularly furnished by households to specific individuals in separate households, especially child support resulting from divorce or separation. The report does not cover sporadic financial aid or nonmonetary support, such as services or tangible gifts.

This report uses data collected during the months of August through November 1997 for the 1996 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), a national longitudinal survey conducted by the Census Bureau.¹ Some comparisons are made with the 1988 data appearing in the previous report of this series on “helping out."²

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¹ The estimates of this report are based on responses from a sample of the population. As with all surveys, estimates may vary from the actual values because of sampling variation or other factors. All statements in this report have undergone statistical testing and passed the Census Bureau’s standards for statistical accuracy.

² Jennings, Jerry and Robert Bennefield, Who’s Helping Out? Support Networks Among American Families: 1988, Current Population Reports, P-70, No. 28, 1992.