Child support is generally intended to help with the costs of raising the child—including food, clothing, shelter, and education—but laws vary from state to state and are often unclear on the extent to which child support payments are intended to help the custodial parent pay for half of school supplies, health care, braces, glasses, dental care, uninsured medical care, transportation (car), daycare, sports camps, cheerleading camps, school trips, social activities, and extracurricular activities.

Most state laws (statutes) don’t identify the specific child-rearing costs to which the custodial parent is required to contribute payment from child support and other resources—and because these issues are frequently the source of parental conflict, parents should identify all expected future costs and agree to the process for sharing them.

In California, child support is designed to cover a child's basic needs such as food, housing, clothing, health insurance, and education. The state uses a guideline calculation that considers both parents' incomes, the amount of time each parent spends with the child, and other factors to determine the amount of child support. While the law provides a framework for the essentials, it does not explicitly list every expense related to child-rearing. For costs like school supplies, medical care, braces, glasses, dental care, transportation, daycare, and extracurricular activities, parents are encouraged to discuss and agree on how to handle these expenses. If parents cannot agree, the court may decide based on what it deems to be in the child's best interest. California Family Code sections 3900-3902, 4060-4076, and 4500-5240 provide the statutory basis for child support, including the handling of additional child-rearing costs. It is often advisable for parents to outline the handling of these expenses in a parenting plan or settlement agreement to minimize future conflicts.