This note compares data from the CPS ASEC 2010 and SIPP 2004 Wave 5 on child support paid. The SIPP-SNHMTM estimates that during 2004-2005 there were 5.4 million support payers, weighted from a sample of 1,697 responses in the topical module. In contrast, the CPS-ASEC shows only about half as many weighted support payers, 2.7 million, based on responses from 1,801 respondents who reported paying child support.

Apart from the large magnitude difference in universe sizes, the distributions of child support paid between CPS and SIPP are relatively similar. Additionally, the mean child support paid in the 2010 CPS was $6,163, or 5% higher than the adjusted amount found in the 2004 SIPP panel ($5,347, or $5,874 in adjusted 2009 dollars). When multiplied by the universe, the aggregate amount of child support paid from the CPS ($16.8 billion) was 46 percent lower than the adjusted aggregate support paid in SIPP ($31.5 billion).