Both parents income should be taken into account. Especially when the other partner has re-married and has full support from their new partner. This is a mother writing this, watching her partner pay thousands on child support to a mother who has a supportive husband with both very high incomes. I agree that fathers need to pay, but there needs to be a fairer system in place for both parents of children. My family suffers due to the high child support payments that go out, and I have to watch one child get everything while the rest make do. It is about time the government sorted this out.

Ok on this child support thing, my sons father and i keep getting into it. He is required to pay $100 a week. He got into a relationship with a woman who has two previous children and their father doesn't pay anything. they decided to move to the other side of the country. Why is it that i am supposed to feel sorry for them because her kids father doesn't help with her kids and i stay on my sons father to take care of his responsibilities towards our child. she says he has to help in their house and i say yes but the first thing he has to do is make sure his obligations to our child are handled. She says her kids are his first goal and i say not. it is driving me crazy. I dont ask for any extra even tho our son is growing and needs new shoes every month. i use his support strictly for him and his needs and wants. it seems as tho every one on this sight is complaining because they are required to pay but guess what. i couldn't have had my son by myself, biology doesnt work that way. So if you dont want to have children keep it in your pants and quit complaining. if you leave your kid and make another family with someone else, i wish you the best but dont forget the kids you already have. and NO i will not help pay for him to come all the way across the country because you left and moved. You never saw him anyway while you were here so why should i shell out for him to come see you now that you want to impress the new chicken. and for the record, before you got with her you did nothing for your son. Now you are doing all for the new kids on the block. i dont want to take away from you or her and her kids. But i will make sure you take care of our child. so all of you people here who feel differently can jump off a cliff onto the rocks below.

I.R.D Child support the whole lot is B.S. I started off a single mum my ex and I chose to have my daughter, he up and left when she was 3 months old I went to work before she turned one to support her and myself. It makes me angry he didn't provide as he ended up in jail and paid nothing for nearly 3 years but the worst was my child not having a dad, for me i don't care about the money money is nothing when your child doesn't have both parents, he passed away this year and she never got to see him again. I have been with a new partner for the last 3 years and he has 3 children 2 from a women he never knew he had kids with until she broke up his past relationship and 1 from the other women. We are both now forking out money for three kids we have one of them 50/50 and the other two we are not allowed to see due to the mother being a money hungry women that had them for financial gain. As my daughter has no father I get no child support to help out with her and we survive on my partners wage and the little tax credits we get don't cover the child support amount that we have to pay. We end up with one wage and it doesn't stretch far. His ex we share care with does nothing to help no clothes, food or pick up or drop off and it takes us 30 mins drive to her house one way. She lives with a guy with no kids and are definitely not short of a quid. Her excuse for not helping is if you want to see your child you pay for everything whether it be transport, clothes, child support etc.It has really tested our relationship with finances and his ex that we share care with constantly lies in affadavit to get the courts on her side. The whole system is floored and aint worth the paper it is written on. New zealand government need to wake the hell up and start making changes fair, just remember not every man chose to have the children they legally have to pay for so where is the mothers responsibilty and morals.

I say it starts with the choice to have potential children. A guy should have a choice. If a relationship existed between a mother and father and both parents wanted the children thats great. If their relationship breaks up thats great. Then the father or mother should pay child support or a way should be discussed so that legal aid or tax payers money isnt further involved. Depending on who has guardian part or all thats no good it should be halfs. But we all have differnt prioroties. Jobs and schedules. But amendments are surely to be made if parents have squared their bitterness away. Maturity people. For fathers that have been there right from the word go (from birth till seperation) shame on you because the development for the child is important so you should really be there. But for fathers (biological) who did not want kids then I say ... you guys really deserve a break. The law shouldnt confine everyone in one box. Humans are irrational at times and rational. However a women gains pregnancy, it doesnt matter she still participated, (much respect for unfortunate rape and incest victims). But the tax payer shouldnt be burdened for a decision of one person who is able to have children because they just want children. The facts are that a person can have a baby (women) and guys get the worst of deals. The IRD dont take into accound of peoples spirtual or religous beliefs they dont care they just want the money (child support) to replenish the tax payers money which support all the mums out there that decided for what ever reason to have a baby for whatever financial situation they are in. Should this really be a logical arguement to burden the rest of society with individual choices in bringing children into the world from only one persons choice. I say couples together who decide to have kids awesome planned conceptions great but if you have sex and you just think you should get the DPB because you think that is the way it should be is insane. New Zealand men get it hard losing over half of their salary including tax. I say if a guy dont want a child just for the princeple he doesnt have to pay child support and women can not get the DPB but if for whatever reason he still wants to pay he can (religous or cultural perspectives). Men should still get a choice. Today its just intrapment. Maybe for women where the father doesnt want it they could work for the DPB and have financial support from family and friends. I dont see what the problem is. Know one said raising a child was going to be easy. But hey if that is what you decide without the consent of the father which is half his baby really where in New Zealand guys dont get a choice at all then why for women in this situation should they get a free financial ride. All the other funds for children out there once they have developed with food clothing and a roof over their head real educational programmes and funding are available like everyone else. This type of idea is not sexist or one sided. Women today can decide on fruition of a potential foetus and abortion one month and decide when they want guys just have to pay. Both people participate in the act of copulation both having fun hopefully while they are at it. That is one choice. The problem is which i believe isnt a problem its just currently the way things are viewed is a problem is that women get everything and guys dont. That should change. Things need to change. People should think before they decide to take a baby to fruition the views of the other parties involved and whether or not its still worth it. I believe children are worth having but not at the expense of other people and especially to make another persons life harder.

All abuse or views or ideas please email. www.procreative.choice@gmail.com

Its about time they did something about the current Child Support system. To many parents (majority dads) are having to pay mega bucks in child support to the parent watching the kids, but not alot of that money actually goes to towards the child. I am a single mother of 2 who has worked since my youngest was 13 weeks old because I had not other option too. I am still waiting for child support from my son's father since 2007 when we parted. He moved to Australia and I have no idea where he is and his family say nothing. IRD have not been able to track him down and are apparently "still waiting to confirm his whereabouts". I see woman who live of mega amounts of child support from their childrens father/father's, while the fathers struggle to get on with their lives because they can't afford too as they are having to fund their childrens carer for their lavish lifestyle thanks to the current child support system. When there are acutally genuine cases (as mine) where I have worked my arse off to give my children a nice, warm, clean home and he gets to take off and not pay jack shit for his children. Im not one of these mothers who sits on the benefit for years on end, I work hard!!! I sometimes think I won't ever see a cent either. Totally not fair!!!!!!

Its great to see all these comments and know there are plenty of others in the same boat as my partner and I. He has a son to another woman from a previous relationship. They separated and then she decided to move to another part of the country. So he pays through the nose for a son he can hardly see, we cannot afford to pick him up and we cannot afford most things. When he does stay with us, for every holidays, she refuses to give us the money back. So when he is here I must admit it can get quite grim, we rely on the Grandparents to help out alot as sometimes we completely run out of money. On top of that, we pay extra rent for a room with an extra bedroom for him all the time yet she claims this as one of the reasons for not paying us the child support back as she has to pay the rent for his bedroom. My partner works full time as a qualified tradesman and works very hard. Many times he has thought about quitting and going on the dole... its sad to say we would probably be better off! We are currently looking into moving to Aussie..

I am in a new relationship. I have 2 kids and get $500/mth my new partner has 2 kids and pays $1200/mth???!!!!! How is that fair! My ex is a lawyer has no kids at home and his partner is a lawyer too. I had to fight him for custody of the kids even though I was freely giving 2 weekends/mth and half of every holiday. He WANTED less and took me to court to get less. He's moved far enough away to not be able to see the kids every second weekend as ordered by the court and tried to make me pay half the travel costs to get the kids to him for a week each school holidays. We have my partners 2 kids every friday night til drop off on Monday at school, then whenever their mother decides they are too much trouble or when they are sick because she can't be bothered spending some of the $1200/mth on a doctor. She never sends clothes for them during thier stay and the school calls us to get them suitable shoes. What is she using that money for??? I have to cope with the $500/mth for my two why can she not with the $1200/mth?

I love the idea of no payments made until access is sorted,and kept to. Why the mummy support! I have a private agreement with my ex.weekends and extra, all great and easy,never bagged him to my kids. My hubby and I have paid $40,000+ to see his child over 6 years. The mother rotted her brain,bought up a rude and ill disaplined child and we too had to pay for her behavour. She is married now with other children, apparently has a rental as well as a bit of land.Has never really held down a job, and still plays games with the poor kids head.Had legal aide all the way. We pay IRD, and have everything here that she needs. I also try to teach her the right thing about life,(the stuff her mother hasn't) and are succeeding,phew. But in the mean time the $ go onto her other kids as i doubt she puts $500 amonth of her own $ into the child.We had forms to fill out thru IRD and always won, we also always won thru the courts (4times). (she often left crying)cause she was wrong in thinking dad wouldn't get the time he wanted.She has tried to break my hubby sooo often,but he loves his kid, and unforchantly,for the mother, the kid loves her dad. And thats worth the crap that comes with these evil women sometimes, and the money worries.

It's a system that is totally unfair. I pay just under $2000.00 a month while she has re-married and lives in a huge home in a very nice area. On top of that we buy them clothes, pay half of their school fee's etc. It doesn't matter that her and her new husband make far more than me and my new wife, it's all about an IRD formular that does work for most people........

@Darren Smith N#7

I pay over $270.00 a week, and have my daughter 3 nights a week. I'm in the same boat. 'Mum' is ALWAYS asking me for more and more, I paid her swimming fee's yesterday of $50.00 pay for food, clothes etc, and after my child support comes out, I am paying FAR more to care for my daughter than what the mum is (and she is in full time work at good employment). Everytime I have gone to the family courts to get a fairer deal, I come out second best. This system is totally floored! And I couldn't give a rats how many women out there disagree, we men, are getting a RAW deal! For those men that have there daughters shared care, we never get the upper hand on these issues. It's on going, and it needs to change. It SHOULD NOT cost more than $240.00 a week to bring up my daughter. It would be financially better for me to go back to the witch of a mum, and save myself say... $90.00 per week! $4600.00 per year. Unfortunatly, I'm stuck paying these completely unfair rates, while she earns good money, charges me child support (I don't charge support of her, as that causes to many arguments? WTF!) and I'm left struggling to be able to afford a beer with my mate at the end of the week after paying all neccessities.