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To think that men who evade paying for their children are a burden on society?

394 replies

ASimpleLampoon · 20/03/2025 07:43

Not my situation as not divorced but I'm fed up of hearing about thousands of men who don't pay child support or only pay the minimum, or fiddle their employment status/ declared income to pay less

They should pay at least half the actual costs of raising their children, more if they earn significantly more than the other parent

If they can't pay they should be supported to get a better job

If theyre self employed and can't pay enough well get a job that allows you to pay.

If they're getting paid in cash, take on more work to pay or find a job where they can't hide their income so they have to pay.

They are the real burden on society , fed up of seeing disabled people and carers torn apart while these feckless men get away with it year after year.

Where is the government and media campaign against them?

OP posts:
k1233 · 20/03/2025 10:11

I think it could be done very simply. It costs $7000 a year to raise a child (made up number for easy math of $1k per night). Depending on how many nights a week each parent has the kids, they need to top up the other for the extra days.

If it's 50/50, there's no adjustment as each pay $3500
If it's 2 nights a week for the full year, then 2 nights = $2k, 5 nights = $5k, - so the 2 nighter has to top up the main parent by $1500.

Payment is not decided on "ability to pay". It's based on the cost to raise a child.

Single parents with close to 100% of time with the kids don't get an option on not paying for them. Deadbeat parents shouldn't be able to get out of their obligations either. Unemployed, cooking the books - no impact. You have a child you pay. It can be taken out as part of the regular payment at the source. No additional admin than someone splitting their pay between two accounts. The parent owing, doesn't get an option on paying, the money is automatically taken. Same as tax and other compulsory payments.

Firsttimeposter2424 · 20/03/2025 10:10

Completely agree that CMS should be completely restructured and processes should be put in place to ensure BOTH parents are financially contributing to a child.
However I do also think that they need to consider the high volume of NRP’s which in most cases are men, who want to see their child more, however do not get the chance as the RP does not want to lost any CMS.
Myself and my partner have recently finished a long court battle where he has now received a 50/50 shares equal care agreement, much to the dismay of his ex partner who stated in court that she did not want him to have more time with the child as her csa would drop and she would have to work more. As you can imagine the judge was not very impressed. Before this riles anybody up, previously to this agreement he paid above the recommended amount, and for the mortgage on the previously shared house for two years before it was sold.
Majority of the time the NRP will be the man, and as a result there will be a higher volume of cases over men shirking their financial responsibilities of a child. However the problems within the CMS are not limited to this one particular issue, there are numerous ways in which it should be improved so parents who want to see their child are not controlled by parents who want to site at home and have the paying parent fund their lifestyle

LilacPeer · 20/03/2025 10:09

BlondiePortz · 20/03/2025 08:02

I would say think very carefully before having a child with someone may go a long way to help it, less of this 'my clock is ticking let's get on with it' or 'I wanna baby now i don't care how I do it'

Had 4 children with my husband, we were together 16 years and never really even had a cross word. Come 2020 lockdown, he had an affair with his colleague (the only 2 left working in person at his company) and walked out of the family home one morning for work and never came home. I don't think any amount of careful thinking could have foreseen this. It was a huge shock to me, my family and friends. He'd always been an incredible hands on dad too, walked out and we didn't hear from him for 6 weeks. When he finally got back in touch, he arranged to see the children for 3 hours a week on a Sunday afternoon....and five years later does no more than this. It's almost like he's had a lobotomy.

Thisissuss · 20/03/2025 10:00

A law like that would affect millions of kids, from birth, having a hugely positive impact on work uptake (mums able to afford childcare and get back to work etc). The fact this has been known and ignored for so long shows it's not as popular with the public as taxing private schools, for example.

Brefugee · 20/03/2025 10:00

TheHerboriste · 20/03/2025 09:26

Women (who also should be on an additional form of birth control) can always say “no condom, no sex.” But they don’t. That’s entirely on them.

how is that in any way an issue? Man doesn't want baby, uses condom/abstains.
Woman falls pregnant because she has sex? she should not have ALL the accountability.

Honestly, the HandmaidenSignal went out quickly on this one.

Snugglemonkey · 20/03/2025 09:59

Jollyjoy · 20/03/2025 07:51

I agree it’s mainly men and it’s a fairly socially accepted phenomenon. I’m not sure about criminalising because prison doesn’t improve matters but a system that actually pursues non payers and enforces reasonable contributions would be a start.

It can be criminalised without using prison. Suspending driving licences or passports for example.

LoneAndLoco · 20/03/2025 09:58

ThDanielDay · 20/03/2025 09:55

Agree with the premise completely but not sure how this can form part of your solution.
"They should pay at least half the actual costs of raising their children, more if they earn significantly more than the other parent"

So if they earn significantly less than the mother she should have the financial burden?

Women who are resident parents are already doing more than their share. And yes, if they are the higher earner they will be providing a better lifestyle for their child. That doesn’t mean the absentee low earner should get away without contributing.

RunningScaredStiff · 20/03/2025 09:57

I’m not a Labour voter but if they put through a law saying that wayward parents were no longer shirking their responsibilities, and that they were bringing in zero tolerance to non payers, with fines, criminal records etc. I’d hold my nose and vote for them. Especially if they said, this will save £Xxx on benefits and this is where we are spending it.

BlondiePortz · 20/03/2025 09:56

So if you don't agree with what you are told on here you habe to agree with the only answer is you have to be a man?

I don't see the logic myself

Cleanupcleanup · 20/03/2025 09:56

Thisissuss · 20/03/2025 09:53

This.

Men who don't pay for their children should have a Claire's Law database on them to warn future partners. I know several men who have families all over the country they don't pay for and they keep going on having more, getting engaged then buggering off before the marriage.

Absolutely. I belive it is a criminal offence in the US to not support your DC? Why can't they be charged with child neglect and abandonment?

ThDanielDay · 20/03/2025 09:55

Agree with the premise completely but not sure how this can form part of your solution.
"They should pay at least half the actual costs of raising their children, more if they earn significantly more than the other parent"

So if they earn significantly less than the mother she should have the financial burden?

Brefugee · 20/03/2025 09:55

For example a men who has a one night stand and the women gets pregnant or even in a relationship where the man has been completely open about not wanting children

there is a SUPER EASY way not to get "trapped" into having a baby. Men should use it if they don't want to pay for "accidents"

reesewithoutaspoon · 20/03/2025 09:55

Mine got away with out paying by skipping the country he's had 5 further children since.
Fortunately I had my parents who helped with childcare to allow me to continue working.
The CMS is useless, they have the powers needed to make it harder for the NRP to dodge paying, they actively choose not to use them
This issue mainly affects women so there is no political will to do anything about it.

aCatCalledFawkes · 20/03/2025 09:54

ARichtGoodDram · 20/03/2025 09:40

If a system designed to make people pay for their children isn't doing that and isnt making it clear it can do that then it's either complete incompetence on the part of everyone employed within an entire organisation or it's orders from above enforced by management to benefit who? Politicians with secret children? Very rich and powerful people with secret children? A system that benefits more from single parents being left holding the baby for some unfathomable (to me) reason than from parents being prevented from avoiding supporting their children? Something else?

It's not properly funded. There aren't enough staff, and many of the ones there are aren't well trained (hence the person training me not knowing two options CMS have). My experience was that the harder cases are often left aside to allow focus on the easy ones. Why bother going after the wealthy self employed guy that will take ages to get through when your stats will look better if you chase a couple of people new to the system who are fully cooperative? That attitude was pretty prevalent.

It does very much feel to me that the fact RP's may have the safety net of benefits means that it's not that important (as in the attitude toward maintenance, not my opinion).

I do think the "well she'll just use it on hair and nails anyway" attitude is everywhere in society.

Especially in part because people have lost sight of what it costs to look after children. I always remember one woman ranting to me that her husband paid "over two HUNDRED pounds" for his four children. That likely didn't even cover their school dinners, but she was blinded by the 'hundreds' part.

There's also an attitude everywhere, including on here, that you should be grateful if you get maintenance. The fact that Mary doesn't get anything doesn't make Pauline greedy if she points out her ex should be paying £450 not £300. Nor should she be grateful to be getting anything.

Whole societal mindset change toward the issue is needed.

There is definitely an attitude problem about women/rp being grateful for what they get. I once wrote that if my ex went truly 50/50 it would be more expensive than the £250 he pays (and he pays below what he should). I had people replying saying that children didn't cost that much, driving lessons and mobile phones etc were luxuries and not needed, how could I expect that kind of lifestyle for her etc..
The missed point was that I shouldn't have to make cutbacks for her so he can go on 5 star holidays and leave her with less, we both earn good money and we should be putting in the same in to her.

Thisissuss · 20/03/2025 09:53

ScarlettSunset · 20/03/2025 09:51

To be fair, I DID have a baby with a feckless loser. I admit it. I had poor role models and it was what I knew.
At the end of the day though, I worked full time and did manage to create a reasonable life for myself and my son, despite his dad's failure to contribute.
Financial support form the father would have been a massive help, but instead he pretended to be too ill to work so he didn't have to. Indeed taxpayers, including myself, ended up paying for him to avoid his responsibilities. I felt like he stole from me twice by not paying anything and claiming benefits...

This.

Men who don't pay for their children should have a Claire's Law database on them to warn future partners. I know several men who have families all over the country they don't pay for and they keep going on having more, getting engaged then buggering off before the marriage.

wannawoo · 20/03/2025 09:53

Yes, totally agree. And then watch them run screaming for the male pill.

Cleanupcleanup · 20/03/2025 09:53

miserablemo · 20/03/2025 09:47

Men who are not allowed to be in their children's lives (not the violent or abusive ones but the normal men who want to see their children but are not allowed) shouldn't have to pay!

Same as those who are not allowed to be on the birth certificate should not be forced to pay.

If you want money from the absent parent, then you need to acknowledge their 'status' on a birth certificate and you need to let that parent see its child!

And I know I'll be flamed... as I said... not the abusive or violent ones!!

The only men not allowed in their DCs life are violent or abusive ones. It is very easy to go to court and be added to the birth certificate and gain a 50/50 shared care arrangement. It is easy to self represent in court too.

Sickwithkids · 20/03/2025 09:53

Can it not be treated as other debts are and sold to an agency if not paid. So the NRP is given their yearly bill broken down into monthly payments and at the end of the year if they are in arrears the debt is sold off. The recovery agency then takes on the burden of recovering the debt and they add more on top for their expenses. Taxpayer isn’t out so much with all the chasing admin costs. NRP pulls their finger out and pays up on time in the future or decimates their credit scores with CCJs so they can’t get their expensive cars on finance.

ScarlettSunset · 20/03/2025 09:51

Tbrh · 20/03/2025 09:44

So women have no agency and are helpless victims who are easily duped?

To be fair, I DID have a baby with a feckless loser. I admit it. I had poor role models and it was what I knew.
At the end of the day though, I worked full time and did manage to create a reasonable life for myself and my son, despite his dad's failure to contribute.
Financial support form the father would have been a massive help, but instead he pretended to be too ill to work so he didn't have to. Indeed taxpayers, including myself, ended up paying for him to avoid his responsibilities. I felt like he stole from me twice by not paying anything and claiming benefits...

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 20/03/2025 09:50

miserablemo · 20/03/2025 09:47

Men who are not allowed to be in their children's lives (not the violent or abusive ones but the normal men who want to see their children but are not allowed) shouldn't have to pay!

Same as those who are not allowed to be on the birth certificate should not be forced to pay.

If you want money from the absent parent, then you need to acknowledge their 'status' on a birth certificate and you need to let that parent see its child!

And I know I'll be flamed... as I said... not the abusive or violent ones!!

Only a twat of a man would think of their child(ren) as 'pay to view'. Those children still need to eat, be clothed, be kept warm, etc., etc.

Only a very stupid sort of a poster would write posts like that.

Edited because no woman would write that.

NotTheDebtDoctorWithTheHungryScalpel · 20/03/2025 09:50

miserablemo · 20/03/2025 09:47

Men who are not allowed to be in their children's lives (not the violent or abusive ones but the normal men who want to see their children but are not allowed) shouldn't have to pay!

Same as those who are not allowed to be on the birth certificate should not be forced to pay.

If you want money from the absent parent, then you need to acknowledge their 'status' on a birth certificate and you need to let that parent see its child!

And I know I'll be flamed... as I said... not the abusive or violent ones!!

Well the men have to show up and put themselves on the birth certificate so they can just refuse to be there, then not pay.

They can, very easily, go to court and get added to the birth certificate and get contact with the child, if they bothered their arses.

It's depressing how many excuses there are for men out there.

randomchap · 20/03/2025 09:49

I'm more concerned about the children affected, not the sex of the person who isn't paying.

Why does the solution need to be gendered? What would be the point of only targeting men?

The vast majority are men, but that doesn't mean that children of mothers who don't pay shouldn't get the same support and help.

Who do you think these children shouldn't be supported?

Thisissuss · 20/03/2025 09:48

ARichtGoodDram · 20/03/2025 09:43

I can't find the post, but CMS staff are employed by the DWP

I am absolutely stunned by this! I really cannot comprehend why so many are not being arrested for fraud in this case!

RancidRuby · 20/03/2025 09:48

There is nothing to stop a non violent or abusive man seeing his children. All he has to do is go to court for an access order.

Brefugee · 20/03/2025 09:48

nope. Children are not pay-per-view.

If you have children, you should pay. Wages should be garnished if necessary.

Seeing the children is another matter - take the other parent to court and get it formalised.