A Comment on "Why Did Child Support Award Levels Decline from 1978 to 1985?" by Philip K. Robins
反驳了罗宾斯关于1978-1985年子女抚养费下降主要源于女性相对收入上升的观点，指出下降主因是新裁定金额的长期实际价值下滑，并探讨其成因，对1988年《家庭支持法》改革有启示。
Between 1978 and 1985 the mean real value of child support payments due declined 25 percent. In this journal, Philip Robins argued most of this decline was the result of an increase in the ratio of female to male earnings, but we argue his conclusion is based upon an inappropriate use of decomposition analysis. We show child support due declined largely as a result of a secular decline in the real value of new awards, which have fallen almost three percent per year since 1961, and we investigate why new awards declined. Our findings have implications for reforms contained in the Family Support Act of 1988.