Why does the uk cms not match the USA model

[queenofthenorthwest]

I might be wrong but reading online, csa is taken very seriously in the US.

It's not in the UK.

Why do we not have harsher penalties for non payment like the US do?

Why is it like this??

I'm just worn out with fighting for the obvious when year on year it's written off because of him being self employed.

Not sure what specifically you mean, but the US has a stronger reputation for “punishing poverty”, and large fines for non-payments in general, and a large bailbond market etc.
I think some of the harsher penalties are likely to cause more poverty, ergo less chance of payment etc. Such as revoking drivers license etc. would make it much harder for low skilled NRPs to gain employment and reduce ability to pay child support further down the line.

Thats a crock of crap. I have zero sympathy for people who dont pay their child maintenance anyways.
The way it works here is each state has a formula that is used to determine the amount based on the NRP income. If the NRP doesnt pay and the resident parent ends up getting benefits, it costs the state. They dont want to pay this as there is another source of income that should be being used.They will go after you for non payment, drivers license and professional license will be suspended, tax refunds, government stimulus checks, wages etc will be taken. If you manage to dodge it for years and end up retired, even though your kids are not in there 40s, they will go after your government pension to get back what you are owing. The debt does not go away even after your kids have grown up.
You cant quit your job to get out of it once its been decided, they dont care, you will pay what you are supposed to. It takes a trip back to court, and all the relevant costs, and the hope the judge will be sympathetic when you ask for an adjustment, they not always are. I saw a judge tell a banker type to get another job, there were plenty of them around and hed seen dozens of places looking for help selling christmas trees on his way in that morning. He said it wasnt the kids fault that hed had his hours cut. The judge also told my exh to get another job as normal people couldnt retire at 52 so he was not going to let the kids suffer just because their dad took early retirement.
They are so tough on it cos they dont want to pay for your children when you should be doing it.

our registry of motor vehicles has a big sign in it saying "If you have defaulted on child maintenance payments, we will not renew your license"

I fail to see how not renewing a drivers license will stop a man not paying child maintenance paying the child maintenance he has no intention of paying.

it is a statement of what is valued. US gets a lot wrong but it gets this right.

I was so confused by this because I honestly thought you meant centimetres!

US gets a lot wrong but it gets this

Yes! The excellent CMS system in the USA is uncharacteristically on the side of women. Ours is shit and so easy for men to circumvent.

Also at putting not paying for your child in the same bracket as bail bonds and poverty. It's the RP who is left impoverished by the NRP, not the poor little NRP for not paying his or her due

Yes it makes me laugh how it’s taken in this country, my ex didn’t pay child maintenance for 3 years As he wasn’t working or claiming benefits and cms refused to do anything because he “could be living off a partner” they weren’t interested in investigating and told me to do it myself, despite us having no contact 🤷‍♀️ When he did finally start claiming benefits he still didn’t have to pay anything because he had “priority debts” that come before cm.

@KilljoysDutch

I was so confused by this because I honestly thought you meant centimetres!

Me too !!!! 😂

The CMS do have the powers to seize driving licenses and passports and I think jail non paying parents but they don't use them.

If there was the political will they would change this but children are low down their list of priorities. If they tried to change the law men's rights organisations like fathers 4 justice would go crazy and their voices mean more than the voices of women.

Absolutely agree the US gets this right. Don’t pay for your kids? Go to jail.

I really like the idea that the debt doesn't go away.. That it could come out of future earnings or pension decades in the future. The fact that so much gets written off here is scandalous. They don't write off tax owed do they? That's not 'too hard' to prove or find the person or prosecute for. But money to pay for children's food, clothing etc, nah, not a priority. Thank fuck they stopped linking it to benefit payments though.. A sad indictment of their acknowledgement that it doesn't get paid but at least the kids and the RP don't get shafted twice by nonpayment of cms and reduced benefits because it was factored in.

I've always thought that child support is the one thing they do seem to get right in the usa

Yes I never got a penny from my ex in Uk but moved to US and all the Mums and some Dads get hefty payments each month garnished from their exes wages so they can t stop it. I was so jealous. And one Dad tried to get out of it and ended up in jail! Let out every day to work then straight to jail at 5 fucking brilliant!!

Sounds like an excellent system. If we campaigned for it here, I bet it'd get put in. Give the government the right to recoup the money spent on benefits over the whole lifetime of the NRP? Should be an easy sell, given concerns about budget etc.

I didn't know this OP and it's very interesting!

The fact that in the UK those powers exist but are not used just goes to show institutionalised misogyny.