Bargaining Against Poor Odds: A Power Resource Analysis on Legal Disputes for Child Support in Sweden

Abstract Child support payments are typically gendered and may be influenced by unequal bargaining positions. Nonetheless, child support is increasingly framed as a private responsibility, with parents expected to negotiate payments themselves. As court mediation expands, this expectation extends to legal disputes. This study examines whether power imbalances—measured as parents’ relative incomes—affect the monetary outcomes of child support court processes in Sweden, comparing cases resolved through in-court mediation versus court adjudication. Using a unique dataset of all Swedish court decisions involving resident parents suing liable parents for child support between 2016 and 2020 (n = 327), the results show that filing for child support typically results in low payments and high costs, offering a poor deal for resident parents. High-income liable parents secure comparatively favorable outcomes relative to both resident parents and lower-income liable parents, indicating that absolute financial resources drive bargaining power in court disputes.