37% (60,700) of parents in the UK with child maintenance obligations failed to pay any maintenance whatsoever, according to statistics revealed by the government.
What’s more, just 63% (103,700) paid any maintenance. 43% (70,700) paid over 90%, but a worrying 20% (33,700) paid less than 20% of the maintenance due – alongside the 37% who aren’t paying a penny.
The government said that the percentage of parents paying something towards their maintenance has fallen by 5% to 63% since the last quarter, meaning there has now been an 11% decrease over the previous three quarters, and the figure of 37% is the highest seen since mid-2018.
Factors that might explain such a drop-off include those who were temporarily on Universal Credit during the pandemic moving off benefits, as well as a change in policy in October 2021 which saw the removal of the temporary £20 uplift for UC claimants. This led to a rise in those claiming benefits due to pay via a Deduction from Benefit yet not having enough benefit remaining within the UC deduction cap to allow a child maintenance deduction to be taken.
Of the 544,600 parents paying maintenance, 93% were male, 73% were between the age of 30 and 50. 56% had one qualifying child. Of those who had two or more qualifying children, 84% had one arrangement and 16% had two or more arrangements.
“Research shows that 60% of single-parent families living in poverty and not receiving child maintenance would be able to escape the poverty trap if they were paid the money they’re owed,” said Victoria Benson, chief executive of single parents’ charity Gingerbread. She added:
“Parents have a legal and moral duty to contribute to their child’s upbringing whether they live with them or not, and where this money isn’t paid willingly the CMS needs to step in.
Child maintenance simply cannot be seen as optional. The CMS needs to use its powers to stamp out persistent non-payment and ensure that no child experiences hardship or poverty because their non-resident parent won’t support them financially.
It’s about time this government and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) took the issue of unpaid maintenance seriously. It’s shameful that so many children are forced to live in poverty as a result of a lax Child Maintenance Service and a disinterested government department.”
The Department for Work & Pensions, which organises the Child Maintenance Service, was recently scolded by the public accounts committee of MPs, which said that the DWP is “achieving no more for children of separated families than under the previous, discredited Child Support Agency”.
It was proposed earlier this year that parents who refuse to pay child maintenance could be hit with curfews in the form of an electronic tag.
A spokesperson for the DWP said:
“Child maintenance is an essential source of income for many lone-parent families, helping to lift 140,000 children out of poverty on average each year. Through continuous enhancements to its processes and powers, the Child Maintenance Service got a record £1bn to children of separated parents last year.
“Child maintenance is calculated so it is reasonable and affordable, according to a paying parent’s income, with the very lowest earners protected by a flat rate of £7 per week.
“Giving children the best start in life is the service’s priority, so parents who can afford to pay more must pay at a rate that reflects what they earn.”
