Reengineering the Child Support Scheme: An Australian Perspective on the British Government's Proposals

DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.2007.00664.x
AuthorPatrick Parkinson
Date01 September 2007
Published date01 September 2007
LEGISLATION/REPORTS
Reengineering the Child Support Scheme: An Australian
Perspective on the British Government’s Proposals
Patrick Parkinson
n
After years of problemswith the Child Support Scheme in Britain, the Government has decided
to attempt reform again,less than four years after a previous major change was implemented in
2003. The author evaluates these reform proposals, drawing upon his experience in le ading a
recent majorreview of child supportpolicy i n Australia.Whilemany of the reformmeasures o¡er
a sensible way forwardfor child support policy,Britai n risks going backwards in terms of com-
munity acceptance of the child supportobligation.The Government needs to consider the likely
impact of its policy settings on private agreements about child support.Waysare proposed both
to protect the Treasury and to promote the wellbeing of children by adopting di¡erent policy
settings that ensure the resident parent has an incentive to bargain forthe level of child support
required by the new formula. The new formulaits elf is evaluatedin the light of the international
research on the costs of children.Ways are also suggested for developinga co-ordinated approach
across governmentto the provision of support services for parents who do notl ivetogether.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHILD SUPPORT POLICY
The child support syst em is a fundamental part of any government’s family policy.
The payment of child support when parents are living apart has the potential to
play a vital role in the reduction of child poverty
1
and more generally, in improv-
ing child wellbeing.
2
Child support policy has also been shown to have other
bene¢ts to society as a whole. A British study indicated that the increase in child
support liabil ities arising from the introduction of the Child Support Scheme in
1993 was likelyto havereduced the risk of partnership dissolutionfor parents with
dependent children.
3
American studies indicate that awareness of the likelihood
of child support en forcement among sexually active adolesce nt males reduces
n
Professor of Law, Universityof Sydney;Chair, Ministerial Taskforceon C hild Support,(Australian
Government), 2004^05. The author would like to thank Nick Wikeley and Mavis Maclean for com-
ments on the draft of this article.
1 J. Bartfeld,‘Child Support and the Postdivorce Economic Well-Being of Mothers, Fathers, and
Children’ (2000) 37 Demography 203; J. Bradshaw,‘Child Support and Child Poverty’ (2006) 14
Bene¢ts 199; D. Meyer and M. Hu, ‘A Note on the Antipoverty E¡ectiveness of Ch ild Support
among Mother-Only Families’(1999) 34 J Human Resources 225.
2 L. Argys E. Peters J. Brooks-Gunn and J. Smith, ‘The Impact of Child Support on Cognitive
Outcomes of Young Children’ (1998) 35 Demography 159.
3 I.Walker andY. Zhu,‘Child Supporta nd PartnershipDissolution’ (2006) 116 The EconomicJournal
C93^C109, C107.TwoUS studies of the same issue, looking only at the risk of divorce by married
couples, have reached di¡erent conclusions. Compare L. Nixon, ‘The E¡ect of Child Support
Enforcement on Marital Dissolution’ (1997) 32 J HumanResources159;B. Heim,‘Does Child Sup-
port Enforcement ReduceDivorceRates? A Reexamination’(2003) 38 J HumanResources 773.
r2007 The Author.Journal Compilation r2007 The Modern Law ReviewLimited.
Published by BlackwellPublishing, 9600 Garsington Road,Oxford OX4 2DQ,UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
(2007) 70(5) MLR812^836
promiscuous sexual behaviour.
4
It also reduces the likelihood of births out of
wedlock and in£uences the choice of partner with whom to have children.
5
Child support ought to be a major issue of social policy i n Britain.The propor-
tion of births outside of marriage has been rising at a very rapid rate. In the early
1970s, lessthan 10per cent of all births were outside marriage.
6
In 1995, the percen-
tage was 34 per cent and in 2005 it was 43 per cent.
7
While the majority of these
childrenwere born to parents whowere cohabiting,
8
and some of theparents will
go on to marry, the dissolution rates of cohabitation are much higher than for
marriages.
9
Not surprisingly therefore, the proportion of lone-parent hou seholds
trebled from 4 per cent of households in 1971, to 12 per cent of households in
2006.
10
As a proportion of al l household s with dependent children, lone pare nt
households increased from 7 per cent in 1972 to 24 per cent in 2006.
11
In spite of its importa nce, child support polic y is often the u nwanted child of
government. It involves making compromises between the con£icting interests
of mothers, fathers, children and the State (represented in particular by theTreas-
ury and concerns about levels of social security expenditure). Awin for one inter-
est group in terms of child support policy is a loss for another. Child support
policy is a complex and contentious area involving zero sum calculations in poli-
tical terms. It is in theory separate from the issue of contact with children, but in
the minds of citizens it is often linked,
12
and dissatisfaction with the lack of enfor-
ceability of court-orderedcontact arrangements can be displaced into anger about
the rigorous enforcement of child support obligations.
13
Even in a country like
Australia, which is perceived internationally as having a well-functioning child
support system, public dissatisfaction with child support issues domi nates the
mailbags of constituency MPs.
After years of problems with the Child Support Scheme in Britain, the Gov-
ernment has decided to attempt reform again, only some six years after previous
4 C. Huang and W. Han,‘Perceptions of Child Support and Sexual Activity of Adolescent Males’
(2004) 27 J Adolescence 731.
5 A. Aizer and S. McLanahan,‘The Impact of Child Support Enforcement on Fertility, Parental
Investments, and Child Well-Being’ (2006) 41 J Human Resources 28. See also R. Plotnick I.
Gar¢nkel S. McLanahan and I.Ku, ‘Better Child Support Enforcement: Can It ReduceTeenage
Premarital Childbearing?’ (2004) 25 J Fam Issues 634.
6 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/PT112.pdf (last visited 8 May 2007).
7 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/PopTrends126.pdf (last visited 8 May
2007).
8 Of the births registered outside marriage in 20 05, 63 per cent were registered jointly by parents
living at the same address. ibid.
9 K. Kiernan, ‘Cohabitation in Western Europe’ 96 PopulationTrends 25 (1999). In a study of 11Eur-
opean countries, Kiernan found that cohabiting relationships which did not result in marriage
were muchmore likely to end in dissolution than marriages either preceded by aperiod of coha-
bitation or without a prior periodof cohabitation. In Britain, only 18per cent of such relation-
ships survived for ten years.
10 O⁄ce of National Statistics,Social Trends no 37, (eds Abigail Self & Linda Zealey) (2007),14.
11 ibid,15.
12 A. Atkinson, S. McKay and N. Dominy, FuturePolicy OptionsFor Child Support:TheViews Of Par-
ents, Department forWorkand Pensions Research Report no 380 (2006); B. Smyth and R.Wes-
ton, A Snapshot of Contemporary Attitudes to Child Support, (Melbourne, Australian Institute of
Family Studies, Research report no. 13,2005).
13 S. Bloomer,T. Sipe, and D. Ruedt,‘Child Support Payment and Child Visitation: Perspectives
from Nonresident Fathersand Resident Mothers’ (2002) 29 J Sociologyand Social Welfare 77.
Patrick Parkinson
813
r2007 The Author.Journal Compilation r2007 The Modern Law ReviewLimited.
(2007) 70(5)MLR 812^836

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