Charity says child payments system is ‘grossly unfair’
THE Welsh arm of a charity has strongly criticised the child maintenance system, saying it can discriminate against poorer parents.
Paul Apreda, national manager of Both Parents Matter Cymru, has written a report outlining a number of case studies which, he claims, illustrate the problem.
The report says: “Let me introduce Mark. He’s a dad of two living in south Wales. His eldest child lives with his mother. She’s fought for almost a decade to prevent their child from having a relationship with his father.
“Mark is currently receiving £73.10 per week in Job Seeker’s Allowance but from those benefits he has £8.40 deducted by the Child Maintenance Service and paid to the mother of his child.
“She works part-time and, with the full array of benefits given to her because she is a single parent with a child, she has a monthly income more than 20 times higher than Mark. Mark’s position highlights a further problem that impacts directly on children because this deduction from his benefits takes food from the mouth of his second child, leaving Mark unable to pay for the most basic of items.”
Another case study relates to Emily, a mum who isn’t the main carer for her child: “Emily sometimes struggles with her mental health but always puts her child first. She works part-time in a lowwage job. She barely earns enough to pay National Insurance (current threshhold is £8,400 a year). The main carer for her child has a highpowered, full-time career earning five times and more what Emily does. Yet the child maintenance authorities pursue her for a percentage of her annual income.”
Mr Apreda writes: “Surely these stories can’t be right? How can the state create a system where individuals on benefits or in very low wage jobs can possibly have money deducted from them to pay to the ‘main carer,’ who can readily access a range of childcare benefits and may earn substantial amounts from wage and investment income?
“How much do you have to earn for the Government to take money from you to pay to the other parent? The answer is £7 per week. That’s all you need to earn before the Government will step in and take money from you to give to the other parent of your child.
“The first £100 of weekly income results in a flat-rate £7 charge. But when you start to really earn some cash then child maintenance properly kicks in. The threshold for paying a percentage of your income is just £100 per week.
“Emily only has one child. This means that from everything she earns above £100 a week, the Government will take 17% of her gross income and pay it to the other parent, who earns five times more than she does.
“So when Emily has her child living with her, she has so little money to care for her that it seriously undermines the relationship between her and her child.
“This system is grossly unfair, and is driving some people towards suicide. It must be changed.”
A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “None of the regulations relating to child maintenance are gender-specific.
“They are based on the principle that both parents should be contributing to the care of the child or children.
“Calculations are based on a formula, but they take into account the circumstances of each parent, including their financial responsibilities towards other children.
“Sometimes the picture is complex, but all factors will be considered. When circumstances change, the calculation is revised.”