News
Parents happier with family-based arrangements, says major survey
5/1/2012
New research shows separated parents who work out their own child maintenance arrangements are more satisfied with their set-up than those using the Child Support Agency (CSA).
Figures released today reveal more than two thirds of parents with a family-based arrangement said they were happy with their situation. Only a third of CSA clients said they felt the same.
Almost 90% of non-resident parents complied with their own arrangements, compared with just under two thirds of those who had payments assessed and enforced by the CSA. Most parents with family-based arrangements (74%) considered those to be fair, compared to only (42%) whose payments were calculated and enforced by the state system.
Work and Pensions Minister Maria Miller said
Collaborative, family-based arrangements would seem to work best for most separated families. That’s why we want every parent who lives apart from their children to have the chance to meet their responsibilities outside of the state service.
Ken Sanderson, Chief Executive of Families Need Fathers, said:
We are not surprised that the research shows that the best possible outcomes for children are achieved when parents work together. That's why we think any encouragement by government for separated families to come to their own arrangements rather than use inflexible state-enforced calculations is a good idea. Too often, in the past, the CSA has been seen by some as a means of creating problems and hardship for ex partners and apportioning blame - we have to move away from this.
The BMRB survey was based on telephone interviews with just over 2000 parents who had contact with the Child Maintenance Options information and support service between July 2008 and January 2010.
Respondent on benefits (88% of whom had no arrangement) and those on incomes of less than £9,000 per annum (37% with no arrangement) were much more likely than other groups to have no child maintenance arrangement at all. The most common reasons given were; not wanting any contact with the other parent, ignorance of their whereabouts or a history of domestic violence.
The Government wants to see all separated parents get help to sort out and maintain child maintenance arrangements themselves, instead of using the CSA as the default option. With CSA clients less likely to have regular contact with the other parent, the research suggests that many of these families would benefit from some support with their relationships.
Maria Miller said:
This research helps to explain why, even after 18 years of the Child Support Agency, so many children remain unsupported by both parents. The present system, which completely ignores family relationships, has channelled hundreds of thousands of unwilling parents into a costly bureaucracy. That’s why we plan a fresh start for child maintenance with all parents given much better support and a fair chance to make their own, family-based, arrangements.