To ask how much child maintenance you receive.

[Sailingthroughtheweek]

I’m wondering where DC and I fit on the spectrum, just out of interest.

I receive £300 per month for one DC.
He lives 100 miles away and does no childcare at all, so that pays for breakfast/ after school clubs, holiday clubs and a bit towards her hobbies.

I’m very, very glad to be in my current position and not still married, so I’m not moaning at all, and also, I earn more than him so I don’t need more, but a £300 contribution to our DC seems low.

@Viviennemary

I've always thought it was very unfair that child maintenance isn't taken into account for benefits. It has never affected me just to clarify. But somebody getting 1800k a month maintenance and another getting nothing or £25 a week and they get the same state benefit top ups. How can that be right.

I agree

£250/m, and we split 50/50 the cost of substantial additional things like expensive trips and clubs. He sees child EOW and 2 nights per week. I earn substantially more than him now (he still earns v well tho). Ironically when I was a much lower earner and reliant on tax credits/housing benefit he was much, much less generous financially 🤷🏻‍♂️

It is taking money from other families whose household income could be a lot lower. This is public money we are talking about. Money raised from tax paying people. The maintenance needs to be taken into account. People getting 1800 a month maintenance do not need subsidies.

Benefit entitlement doesn’t account for maintenance anymore because it’s so unreliable and practically unenforceable legally. I used to process benefit claims back in the days when it was included, and you’d have situations where there was a court order for maintenance, the mother’s benefits were reduced accordingly, the NRP didn’t pay and the mother/children were in financial dire straits because benefits couldn’t be increased. In reality most people do not get £2k of maintenance and I suspect more single parents than not don’t get any or a reasonable/realistic amount. Scrapping the inclusion of if in benefit claims is the best outcome for the children’s welfare.

I disagree. I woukd support a change to have it included.

@Viviennemary

I disagree. I woukd support a change to have it included.

Easy to say when it's not you that's affected!

I'm only supposed to get £150 a month. My ex changes job and moves around a lot so he doesn't have to pay. I am lucky to get one payment a year the and last one was over a year ago.
He has recently told the CMS he is living with someone and does not work anymore as they support him and he won't apply for benefits so Im entitled to £0 a month now. He has run up thousands of pounds debt towards my son and the CMS enforcement team have now taken him to court so they can send the Bayliffs around.
I don't know how they can believe that someone who has tried his hardest not to pay is now living without even a pound to live off but they believe it.
This has gone on for 6 years

jimmyjammy001

It all comes down to how much your ex-dp earns, if you've chosen to have children with some dead beat that is work shy and is on minimum wage then you aren't going to get anything, if on the other hand you've chosen to have kids with someone who has got their shit together I.e a good career, house, savings, pension etc then you will get more online with their earnings
Bookmark

Strange that, for what I can see on this post the majority of fathers that don’t cough up for their children are high earners.

I don't know how they can believe that someone who has tried his hardest not to pay is now living without even a pound to live off but they believe it.

That happened with me and my ex, he wasn’t working or claiming benefits, cms didn’t care because they told me he could be living of a partner. I knew for a fact it wasn’t the case but they didn’t care.

Not me, but friend of a friend:
Ex left two and half years ago, and pays £1900 per month for DD (17) and DS (11). He also pays their phone bills, trips, etc, and has them EOW and 2-3 nights every week.

When he left she didn’t have a steady income, but now has a good job (9-3 mon-fri - she asked for reduced hours so is paid pro-rata). He has told her he will be reducing the amount to £1400 as of Sept, as she now has her own income.

She doesn’t think the reduction is fair, as his income has actually increased since leaving. I can see her reasoning, but she stayed in the mortgage free family home and is choosing to work reduced hours.

£400 pcm for 2 young DC. No overnight stays (actually that's not true but they are very rare). No childcare/pick ups/drop offs/hobby stuff. Sees them 1 day a week.

Some people don't earn 1800pcm, it's all relative isnt it

@PumpkinKlNG

It's terrible isn't it. He earns as self employed but does not declare it. All the CMS say is that I should report to hmrc and there's nothing they can do
Enforcement will only try to get back the arrears he owes but even though he's been taken to court I doubt that they will make sure the money gets paid. I have no faith in CMS at all.

£200 per month for one child. I'm happy with that.

@CiaoForNiao

So now imagine how it affects someone who has no child maintenance at all! All income should be calculated for benefits and people should get enough to cover childcare and life expenses. It's outrageous that someone getting £1800 extra a month gets the same benefits as someone who gets zero child maintenance.

It's all well and good including maintenance as income, until the NRP suddenly decides not to pay it. The RP is left unable to pay bills. Benefits take a few weeks to sort out, the CMS take forever to get the payments, if ever. That's why they stopped including them.

And no its not 'fair' that some people get £1000+ in maintenance and benefits, while other parents get the same amount of benefits and £0 maintenance. But life isn't fair. And there'll never be a system that is fair. They've got to pick the "best of a bad bunch" as it were.

Actually understand this better now

4Got £0 from Dc1 father since she was 12yrs old. The father of younger 3dc pays a staggering £30.46 per month through CMS

[quote Aerish]@PumpkinKlNG

It's terrible isn't it. He earns as self employed but does not declare it. All the CMS say is that I should report to hmrc and there's nothing they can do
Enforcement will only try to get back the arrears he owes but even though he's been taken to court I doubt that they will make sure the money gets paid. I have no faith in CMS at all. [/quote]
Definitely report him to HMRC. Boils my blood when people don't declare income.

The reason why CMS isn’t considered when calculating benefits is because previously when it was. Benefits would be stopped when CM was calculated and then the NRP would not pay or stop paying or payment would go down and CMS would not be recovering the calculated maintenance. Therefore the RP would be down benefits and have no CM either. Reinstating benefits takes time and it meant the RP was left with money at all.

It left a lot of single mums with kids with nothing.

I saw it happen to my friend. In the end she closed her CM case so she could get the benefits and at least feed her kids and put a roof over their head.

@MorriseysGladioli

I wish I hadn't read this thread now. It's hammered home how absent parents seem to be able (still!!!) to treat contributions to their children's upkeep as voluntary.

Me too. Makes me want to sterilise a lot of parents. They don't deserve to have children.

That’s what I got told, report to HMRC I have no interest in doing that though as will just cause him to retaliate , he will know it was me.

None at all.

Zero

1 DC (7.5). He paid £3.50 a week for a while and then stopped that about 6 years ago.

No contact.

I thank my lucky stars I have a good job and don't need it.

Benefits are a right which you can choose to exercise. If you don't need them, you should not exercise that right.

It's more important that all those that need benefits, get them.

Otherwise you are risking a larger group of people being left destitute in an effort to prevent a small group of people claiming benefits they don't need.

My friends who were on benefits, were fresh out of very abusive marriages with very small children.

The benefits were a safety net.

They no longer claim benefits now and one completely re trained to enter an amazing vocation which required a lot of hard work, she got a degree to do it and is working on her masters now whilst working and taking care of a child with severe SEN.

Her ex pays nothing.

CM cannot be used when calculating benefits as it’s not guaranteed or consistent form of income.

I've got 2 children. Split up with ex years ago. Have had a total of 4 months maintenance in that time.

**split up with ex 9 years ago, that should read.