13 December 2006: Why should abused fathers pay Child Support?
The failings of the CSA and how the proposed replacement will fail just as spectacularly
RFFJ News
13th December 2006
The Labour Government have announced that they are scrapping the failing Child Support Agency (CSA) and replacing it with a system that will come down heavily on non-paying parents.
“The new Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission (CMEC) will be tough on parents who evade their Parental Responsibilities.”
Yet again the Government fails to accept the root cause of the failings of the CSA.
The CSA was established by the John Major Tory Government in early 90's to chase and catch those parents who abandoned their parental responsibility to care and financially support their children after parental separation. In the 80’s and 90's this was seen as a big problem as the State had to support an increasing number of single mothers reliant on benefits.
Since then it has become clear that not all absent parents are holding that title by choice. Many absent parents are fighting to reverse that title and actually regain or maintain a parenting role in their child’s lives. The burden (emotional and financial) of that fight remains the sole domain of the absent parent, and he/she has no State support stepping in and respecting their natural parenting rights, or role.
The failure of this Government to respect and honour the rights of parents stuck in this battlefield is the root cause for the CSA failures.
Rather than chasing the minority of absent parents who do evade child support by choice and for no good reason, they have been chasing and hounding the parents who are desperate to have a full and responsible parenting role in their children’s lives, yet are prevented from doing so and unable to pay due to the immense legal cost of their personal fight. Or as in some cases they refuse to pay child support because the Resident parent is clearly getting away with a major human rights violation to both the child and the absent parent.
The government is perpetuating the myth that separated parents, in particular fathers, are feckless and not supporting their children, and is acting as an instrument of further emotional and financial abuse to those already abused parents who are being denied a relationship with their children.
If the government wanted to get tough on those parents who don’t fulfil their parental responsibility through self-choice and no good reason, then we would support that, as to bring a child into this world and shirk your parenting responsibility and role is an abuse in itself.
The problem is that the Government fails to distinguish between those parents with a genuine reason for not paying, with those who flout their responsibility through selfish and abusive choice.
Real Fathers For Justice fully understand and backs any parent unwilling to pay Child Support when they are clearly having theirs and their children’s human rights abused by the State and the controlling parent. We condemn any parent who abuses a child’s and parents’ human rights by choosing to neglect their parental responsibility unreasonably. Likewise we condem any parent and State who unreasonably interferes with a parent and childs ability and right to maintain a relationship.
Why should abused fathers pay?
It is not the duty of an abused non-resident parent to financially support an abusive resident parent, as to do so would be to deprive the abused parent the ability and funds to fight to stop the abuse against the very child they would otherwise naturally be supporting. Paying support under such circumstances would be equivalent to paying a child kidnapper a weekly allowance to care for your child whilst you work with the authorities to release your child.
Whilst the State allows this abuse to continue it should pick up the bill of supporting the child, as it is the State that fails to address this core issue, and allows such abusive parents to benefit off the State and use it as an instrument of further abuse to good parents.
The answer to this problem clearly resides with this Government putting children first by enacting laws that respect and upholds parenting rights, roles and responsibilities. Only when there is recognition of parent’s rights can you put in place punitive measures when those rights are neglected, evaded or abused.
Responsibility with Rights
Today, parents have responsibility without rights. Rights without responsibility is equally absurd.
Real Fathers For Justice demands that parenting rights are enacted to put an end to the cycle of abuse. The Government is the one trying to evade its responsibility by refusing to respect that parents need to be empowered to parent their own children, and can care for their children responsibly when those rights exist.
That would clearly leave the necessity for a reduced child support agency a more relevant solution, as it would then focus on those minority of absent parents that society rightly condemns for not supporting their own children.
“70% of non-resident parents are paying towards the upbringing of their children. The popular image of feckless fathers who leave the marital home and refuse to pay any money towards the upkeep of their former wife and children has been much exaggerated, according to new figures from the Child Support Agency.
Latest returns from the government agency show that a marginally higher proportion of women than men persistently refuse to pay child maintenance.”
The Guardian April 2006
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329453996-103690,00.html
Join Real Fathers For Justice to expose the deciet that this Governement continues to spout regarding parents and their responsibilities.
RFFJ News
13th December 2006
The Labour Government have announced that they are scrapping the failing Child Support Agency (CSA) and replacing it with a system that will come down heavily on non-paying parents.
“The new Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission (CMEC) will be tough on parents who evade their Parental Responsibilities.”
Yet again the Government fails to accept the root cause of the failings of the CSA.
The CSA was established by the John Major Tory Government in early 90's to chase and catch those parents who abandoned their parental responsibility to care and financially support their children after parental separation. In the 80’s and 90's this was seen as a big problem as the State had to support an increasing number of single mothers reliant on benefits.
Since then it has become clear that not all absent parents are holding that title by choice. Many absent parents are fighting to reverse that title and actually regain or maintain a parenting role in their child’s lives. The burden (emotional and financial) of that fight remains the sole domain of the absent parent, and he/she has no State support stepping in and respecting their natural parenting rights, or role.
The failure of this Government to respect and honour the rights of parents stuck in this battlefield is the root cause for the CSA failures.
Rather than chasing the minority of absent parents who do evade child support by choice and for no good reason, they have been chasing and hounding the parents who are desperate to have a full and responsible parenting role in their children’s lives, yet are prevented from doing so and unable to pay due to the immense legal cost of their personal fight. Or as in some cases they refuse to pay child support because the Resident parent is clearly getting away with a major human rights violation to both the child and the absent parent.
The government is perpetuating the myth that separated parents, in particular fathers, are feckless and not supporting their children, and is acting as an instrument of further emotional and financial abuse to those already abused parents who are being denied a relationship with their children.
If the government wanted to get tough on those parents who don’t fulfil their parental responsibility through self-choice and no good reason, then we would support that, as to bring a child into this world and shirk your parenting responsibility and role is an abuse in itself.
The problem is that the Government fails to distinguish between those parents with a genuine reason for not paying, with those who flout their responsibility through selfish and abusive choice.
Real Fathers For Justice fully understand and backs any parent unwilling to pay Child Support when they are clearly having theirs and their children’s human rights abused by the State and the controlling parent. We condemn any parent who abuses a child’s and parents’ human rights by choosing to neglect their parental responsibility unreasonably. Likewise we condem any parent and State who unreasonably interferes with a parent and childs ability and right to maintain a relationship.
Why should abused fathers pay?
It is not the duty of an abused non-resident parent to financially support an abusive resident parent, as to do so would be to deprive the abused parent the ability and funds to fight to stop the abuse against the very child they would otherwise naturally be supporting. Paying support under such circumstances would be equivalent to paying a child kidnapper a weekly allowance to care for your child whilst you work with the authorities to release your child.
Whilst the State allows this abuse to continue it should pick up the bill of supporting the child, as it is the State that fails to address this core issue, and allows such abusive parents to benefit off the State and use it as an instrument of further abuse to good parents.
The answer to this problem clearly resides with this Government putting children first by enacting laws that respect and upholds parenting rights, roles and responsibilities. Only when there is recognition of parent’s rights can you put in place punitive measures when those rights are neglected, evaded or abused.
Responsibility with Rights
Today, parents have responsibility without rights. Rights without responsibility is equally absurd.
Real Fathers For Justice demands that parenting rights are enacted to put an end to the cycle of abuse. The Government is the one trying to evade its responsibility by refusing to respect that parents need to be empowered to parent their own children, and can care for their children responsibly when those rights exist.
That would clearly leave the necessity for a reduced child support agency a more relevant solution, as it would then focus on those minority of absent parents that society rightly condemns for not supporting their own children.
“70% of non-resident parents are paying towards the upbringing of their children. The popular image of feckless fathers who leave the marital home and refuse to pay any money towards the upkeep of their former wife and children has been much exaggerated, according to new figures from the Child Support Agency.
Latest returns from the government agency show that a marginally higher proportion of women than men persistently refuse to pay child maintenance.”
The Guardian April 2006
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329453996-103690,00.html
Join Real Fathers For Justice to expose the deciet that this Governement continues to spout regarding parents and their responsibilities.
