El incumplimiento en el pago de las pensiones alimenticias, el bienestar de los hogares y el contexto legal vigente en Uruguay

The purpose of this paper is to study the reasons that underlie non-compliance with child support orders in divorce cases and to review the problems of the enforcement system. Firstly, there is a brief description of the links between divorce, economic welfare and household structure. Secondly, there is an analysis of the variables that affect a parent’s compliance, based on a specific survey in 2001. Finally, there is a review of the problems of enforcement according to the points of view of different agents in the judicial system. The empirical analysis suggests that compliance is related to a parent’s ability to pay, the duration of the marriage and the couple’s conflict level before divorce. With respect to the legal system, agents say; a) that it is difficult for judges to observe parent’s income because of widespread under-declaration in labour and tax records; b) that the system does not apply enforcement techniques.