CMS is 'closing' cases woman cannot afford to pursue

As the Child Maintenance Service closes up cases that were opened under the Child Support Agency, 57% of parents are being forced to abandon their claim for child support payments.

The myth that family courts favour women has been widely debunked, but 91% of single parents are women, meaning this deficit has a disproportionate impact on single mothers.

The latest report by Gingerbread, a national charity for single parents, highlights the consequences of the shortfall in the DWP’s new Child Maintenance Service.

Parents who wish to pursue claims for child maintenance payments from partners who are unwilling to agree terms without outside intervention now have to pay for this service, which has lead 87% to drop their claims. While the service may count these closed claims as a ’win’, it has effectively left parents £4 billion short.

It is important to note that payment of statutory child maintenance is a legal obligation, in the same way that tax is, but it would appear to be much easier to avoid than tax. One woman reported that her former partner’s employer failed to fill out the forms to enable his debt to be deducted from his pay cheque. After the delay this caused, it then let him declare himself as self-employed, even though he still worked for them in the same capacity, so he could avoid paying the statutory child maintenance at all.

A previous report by Gingerbread showed that receipt of child maintenance would bring one in five of the poorest families who receive it above the poverty line.

Fiona Weir, Gingerbread’s chief executive, said, ’Britain’s child maintenance system is contributing to a culture where too many parents think it’s optional, rather than obligatory, to pay their child’s maintenance. The accumulated level of CSA arrears is staggering. The government cannot walk away from its obligation to collect the millions owed’.