CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – New Hampshire parents skipped out on more than a third of the child support owed for children in the state last year.

The Division of Child Support Services collected 64.4 percent of child support payments. Even at a less than two-third’s collection rate, that’s still higher than the national average of just under 60 percent. Division Director Mary Weatherill said the state oversees 38,000 child support cases involving about 50,000 children.

She says during the year that ended Sept. 30, the state collected current due payments of $64.4 million out of $100.1 million due.

Arrearages which carry over from year-to-year totaled $191.8 million as of the end of September, Weatherill said. More than $22 million in arrearages were collected during the last fiscal year.

Most of the support payments collected, 65 percent, was collected through garnished wages.

More than $23 billion in child support payments were collected nationwide in 2005 the latest year for which statistics are available. Close to 1.2 million child support orders were established that year, according to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement.

The total amount of arrearages reported nationwide, representing all previous fiscal years up to 2005, was $107 billion. Of the $107 billion, $7 billion was collected and distributed.

There were 11.1 million cases with arrears due in fiscal year 2005, and 6.6 million of these cases had collections. Sixty percent of those owing arrears made some payment that year.

—

Information from: Foster’s Daily Democrat, http://www.fosters.com

AP-ES-03-04-07 1226EST