To ask about child maintenance

[EatDickShrek]

Hi there. I don't have kids myself but am a fairly long term lurker on mn. I have been consistently shocked by the ease with which dead-beat dads get away with not supporting their children. I was wandering if anyone with experience would be willing to discuss changes they feel would make a difference in our child maintenance system. Thanks.

Given the conditionality already placed on lone parents and the upcoming increases to this with universal credit, one change I would make is that any NRP reporting an income of less than 35 hours at minimum wage would be compelled to report to the job centre as lone parents are in order to be encouraged to increase their earning capacity. Caring responsibilities/disability can be taken into account. For all weeks where the NRP does not meet the job centre requirements for their job search (or if they refuse to attend), they would be assessed as if they were earning 35 x NMW and this would be added to their child maintenance debt - agree with posters above that this should impact on credit ratings etc.

In Denmark if the Nrp doesn't pay, then the public purse does. Nrp then has to repay the state. If they don't then it gets added on to the tax bill for the next year.

In Denmark if the Nrp doesn't pay, then the public purse does. Nrp then has to repay the state. If they don't then it gets added on to the tax bill for the next year.

Thats a really good idea. And presumably those who pack in work would have it deducted from their JSA or whatever?

Not if they're on benefits I don't think. They accumulate a debt and when they start working again they pay it back (is my understanding).

WTF is this?

It's a thread Fudge

I'd like to see them put in stocks in their local village/town/city centre. Sick of single mothers being stigmatised when they are the parent who actually stuck around, whilst deadbeat dads can just walk away! I used single mothers rather than single fathers because in my experience I have never ever seen someone slate a single father, they hold them up as some kind of angel like figure - yet single mothers, scum of the Earth!