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 Massachusetts, child support is governed by state guidelines that take into account the income of both parents and the needs of the child. The purpose of child support is to ensure that the child's basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter are met, as well as to provide for additional expenses related to the child's well-being, such as education and healthcare. While the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines provide a framework for determining the amount of support, they do not explicitly list every specific expense that child support must cover. However, the guidelines do consider the costs of childcare, healthcare, and education in the overall support calculation. For expenses such as school supplies, extracurricular activities, and uninsured medical costs, parents are encouraged to come to an agreement on how to handle these costs. If parents cannot agree, they may seek a court's intervention to resolve disputes. The court has the discretion to order additional support for extraordinary expenses that are in the best interest of the child. It is advisable for parents to clearly outline the handling of anticipated child-rearing costs in their parenting plan or support agreement to minimize conflicts.