Hello all,
First up I'd like to be upfront and let you know that I am currently trying to start a campaign on Mumsnet to fight the proposal by the government to force charges on single parents who are using the CSA to claim child maintenance.
Thread here
I truly believe that this is a feminist issue, as well as a socio economic one.
All of my stats to follow come from the Gingerbread website, a charity committed to helping single parents and currently running a campaign to challenge the CSA changes.
Changes such as:
Starting from 2013, the government proposes charging:
£100 as an upfront fee (or £50 for parents on benefit) for those who want to use the future CSA. Only ?Victims of domestic violence? will be exempt (although there is no detail on how this will be proved or checked).
An on-going charge of between 7% and 12% on any maintenance paid to parents who rely on the future CSA to collect their child maintenance, as well as an extra 15-20% charge added to the non-resident parent?s payment.
THIS IS APPALLING.
Can you imagine trying to scrape up £50.00 while on benefits (which are being cut) to try and get some child support?
Bearing in mind that
Only two-fifths (38 per cent) of single parents receive maintenance from their child?s other parent
Further bearing in mind that:
^There are 3 million children living in a single parent household (23% per cent of all dependent children)
Around 10 per cent of single parents (186,000) are fathers^
My maths ain't great, but I'm pretty sure those figures add up to women and children getting shafted. Big Time.
I wrote a blog about my own experiences with the CSA and trying to explode some of the "reasons" that single mums do not use the CSA to chase down fathers who won't pay. here It's part of the #frothers campaign currently running across MN.
I'd be interested in your thoughts and impressions from a feminist POV on this thread, but I would LOVE you to come over to my campaign thread and swell the numbers in order for me to prove to MNHQ that this campaign is one worth backing, I really think that MN and Gingerbread together as an alliance could push this issue to the forefront of the media and hopefully effect some change.
Thanks for reading.