Income Hierarchy: Ability to Work and No Earning Record

Legal Authority

• Oklahoma Wage Report
• Oklahoma State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
• 43 O.S. § 118B
• OAC 340:25-5-178
• OAC 340:25-5-124.4 ITS 2

Ability to Work and No Written Earning Record

For time periods when a parent has the ability to work, but has no written earning records, use whichever is most equitable:

• Minimum wage paid for a 40-hour work week; or

• Amount of gross income a person with comparable education, training, and experience could reasonably earn. When estimating a reasonable income, staff refers to either the or the Oklahoma Wage Report or the Oklahoma State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates. When there is evidence a parent is working less than 40 hours per week, determine whether to use actual income or impute another amount, such as minimum wage at 20 hours per week.
  

  Example

  • A parent is a licensed plumber, has the ability to work, and there is no evidence of income. Use the median hourly wage for a plumber from the Oklahoma Wage Report or the Oklahoma State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in the child support computation form.

Purposefully Underemployed

• When the parent is purposefully underemployed, use at least minimum wage for a 40 hour work week in the child support computation forms. You may also impute income using either the Oklahoma Wage Report or the Oklahoma State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates .

  Example

  • A parent has a multiple year work history as a dental assistant. Recently, the parent remarries a high-wage earner and decides one income is sufficient to run the household. As a result, the parent decides to stay at home with the children. Here, impute income for a dental assistant based on either the Oklahoma Wage Report or the Oklahoma State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates .