Eliminate sex discrimination from child support
What?
This is not a discussion about whether the way Family Courts assign residency
or access favours mothers. Nor is it about whether the CSA's culture is
biased towards women.
There is there an explicit bias in the child support legislation in favour
of mothers against fathers. (There may be more than one). It needs to
be removed.
Why?
Does explicit sex bias in legislation matter? Decide for yourself.
Are there enough cases to worry about? Remember that for every one of
the people adversely affected, they cannot get consolation in the fact
that there aren't many of them. They are each affected 100%, for up to
18 years.
But what really matters is that this shows the biases and deep flaws
in the UK's child support system. This bias (above) was known to ministers
and law-makers at the time they wrote the law. They simply decided that
it was at least acceptable, if not desirable.
How?
Prefereably change the social security laws. Failing that, take the Child
Benefit criterion out of the child support laws.
References
| Relationship to other
Agenda items |
| Parents
should have equal status by default |
These items are obviously
thwarted by any form of explicit sex discrimination in the child support
system. |
| Use a symmetrical
formula that treats both parents similarly |
| Other pages in this web
site |
| 2000
Act - sex discrimination in the child support law |
In summary:
- all other things being equal, the person who receives Child
Benefit is the one designated the parent with care (PWC), and
hence receive child support from the other parent, who will therefore
be designated non-resident parent (NRP)
- all other things being equal, Child Benefit is allocated to
wives (when the parents are married) or mothers (where they are
not married)
|
| Potential lobby groups |
| Families
Need Fathers |
|
| NACSA |
|
| Other relevant external
links |
| Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women |
Article 13. States Parties shall
take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women in other areas of economic and social life in order to ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in particular:
(a) The right to family benefits;
|
| Father
loses child benefit test case |
A father who wanted a share of the
benefits his ex-wife receives for their child has lost his High Court
test case. A judge rejected the claim by firefighter [X] that fathers
separated from their wives should have the legal right to share child
benefits with mothers if they played an equal role in caring for their
children. |
|