Children who benefit from child support payments seem to fare better than those who obtain the same amount of money from welfare, according to a Cornell University study. And when child support stems from an agreement between parents rather than a court-ordered one, the children do even better.

"We now have evidence that money from child support may have a direct positive effect on children's cognitive development and educational attainment," said Elizabeth Peters, Cornell professor of consumer economics and housing.

How far children go in school also is influenced by other factors, such as family income, education of parents, family structure and composition and residential location, according to an earlier study by Peters.

"Some of these findings have important implications for policy," said Peters, an expert on the economic dimensions of marriage, divorce, child custody and child support who makes a concerted effort to bridge the gap between research and family policy. "Since we now know, for example, that fathers' child support payments have benefits beyond their economic value, we should consider this when developing policy."

Peters suggests that policies such as the new welfare reform bill should encourage equitable child support guidelines and cooperative child support agreements.

Peters recently reported her findings on the effects of different sources of income for children in October at the policy seminar, Supporting Children in An Era of Welfare Reform, which was part of the Human Ecology Policy Perspective Series in Albany, N.Y., and at the Conference on Fathers' Involvement in Washington, D. C., which she organized. Her paper, "The Role of Family Income and Sources of Income in Adolescent Achievement," is to be published in the book Growing up Poor, edited by Greg Duncan and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn and due to be published by Russel Sage this year. Peters also has published some of her findings in an issue brief published by the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center at Cornell.

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Peters has explored mothers' dependence on welfare and its relationship to child support. Peters also is a principal investigator with the Family & Child Well-Being Research Network funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a network of scholars who are applying research findings on children to public policy.

One reason for the link between child support and children's success could be that when fathers pay child support, they are more likely to be active in the children's lives. "In fact, there is a direct correlation between paternal contact with children and the contribution of child support," Peters said. And when child support is paid, parents may get along better, which can positively influence the child and his/her development.

"If there is a causal link between child support and child well-being, then we know that our policies that promote child support may have greater benefits for children. Therefore, if we reduce reliance on welfare and increase reliance on child support, children will gain, even if total income does not increase," Peters said.

Federal policy relating to child support guidelines, paternity establishment and state AFDC guarantee levels all have the potential to impact child well-being. Guidelines, for example, may make it easier for parents to reach child support agreements and create a sense of fairness. "We know, for example, that the probability of cooperative awards is much higher for women living in states with such guidelines," Peters pointed out.

Furthermore, when womens' welfare payments are reduced dollar-for-dollar when child support is received, mothers are less inclined to try to locate absent fathers or establish paternity. When paternity is established but child support is court-ordered, it's less likely to be paid and less likely to help the child.

"We need to determine what kinds of policy can promote cooperative agreements between parents," Peters said. Her current challenge is a focus on how policy affects how agreements between parents are made. Do mediation programs help? Enforced visitations? "We must think about child support as an ongoing relationship between both parents and between the parent-child," she said. "We can't just focus on the collection of money."