Separated Families and Child Support Policies in Times of Social Change: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Child support policies aim to ensure separated parents continue to pay for the upkeep of their children until they reach adulthood. This is a laudable aim, often related to alleviating poverty in single parent families following relationship breakdown. There is a long policy history of this in most Western countries, but the institutional and operational challenges are considerable as policies try to keep pace with changes in family relationships, household structures, and gendered patterns of employment and childcare. Tracking changes in parents’ earning and caring responsibilities therefore matter in determining child support liabilities. The question is, how well are child support systems doing in adapting to social changes and norms of gender equality? To answer that, this chapter presents an analysis of the latest data from a comparative study of 15 countries using national informants’ accounts of the key policy principles and operational features of their child support systems.

Lone mothers and child support receipt in 21 European countries

“…The different institutional arrangements found in child support policies, that is, whether court-based, agency-based, or a hybrid system, did not appear to influence child support receipt, with no clear pattern or consistency found in terms of the regulations or judicial decision-making in relation to child support determination, either within or across the scheme types. This finding accorded with those of previous studies (Hakovirta and Skinner, 2020). This study's results should be interpreted considering the following limitations.…”

“…For the same reason, it could be considered that lone mothers in countries with agency-based systems would be more likely to receive child support compared to lone mothers in countries with court-based systems. However, Hakovirta and Skinner (2020) found no obvious pattern in relation to the differing types of child support scheme adopted. Neither the regulations nor judicial decisionmaking in relation to child support calculations appear to involve any clearly discernible consistency, either within or across the scheme types.…”

“…First, a substantial proportion of lone-mother families in the 21 European countries included in this study did not receive child support. Child support policies have been developed to ensure that following family breakdown, parents in separated families continue to financially support their children (Skinner et al, 2007;Skinner and Hakovirta, 2020). This obligation is enshrined within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 27: 'State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to secure the recovery of maintenance for the child from the parents or other persons having financial responsibility for that child'.…”

“…Using the categorization of Skinner et al (2007) and Skinner and Hakovirta (2020), child support schemes have been identified as either agency, court-based, or hybrid schemes, depending on the role of the courts and public agencies in the operation of a country's scheme. Only two countries, Denmark and the UK, operate primarily agency schemes in which an administrative agency is responsible for the assessment, collection, and transfer of child support.…”

“… Sources : Eurostat (2021), Global Gender gap report (2021), Nieuwenhuis (2020), OECD Family Policy Database (2020), Skinner, Bradshaw, and Davidson (2007) and Skinner and Hakovirta (2020). …”