Big shake-up on cards for child support

New Zealand's child-support system looks set for the biggest shake-up in nearly 20 years.

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne has outlined potential reforms for the system which covers more than 210,000 children.

Family advocates have branded the present system as outdated, unfair and unjust, with child-support debt soaring to nearly $2 billion.

In a discussion paper released yesterday, proposals include greater consideration of both parents' income and the care time provided by each when calculating child-support payments.

Currently, only the non-custodial parent's income is considered.

Child-support payments would also be calculated based on new research showing the true cost of raising a family.

The paper also proposes a compulsory deduction from wages and a cap on penalties for failing to make payments.

At the end of June, child-support debt was $1.94 billion. Unpaid child support accounted for $578 million of the total, while the rest was penalties.

Dunne said the 18-year-old system was "outdated and sometimes unfair".

"The reality is that family life in New Zealand has changed considerably in the 18 years since the current scheme was introduced," he said.

"Families have evolved, and their domestic and financial situations have changed and are often more complex today." He said that "both parents are far more likely to be working than was the case in 1992, and often separated fathers have greater involvement with their children".

The proposals have been welcomed by family advocates.

Union of Fathers national president Allan Harvey was pleased that both parents' income would be considered under the proposals.

"It is stupid to see one as a cash parent and one as a caring parent," he said.

"I think it is unfair and acts as a revenue statute rather than focusing on the needs of children and supporting their parents."

Every Child Counts spokeswoman Deborah Morris-Travers said the discussion paper could defuse growing anger among fathers.

Children's Commissioner John Angus said the proposals were timely as the family unit had changed.

MAIN PROPOSALS

Consideration of both parents' income when calculating child-support payments.

Greater consideration for the amount of care a parent provides when calculating payments.

Currently, child-support payments are reduced if they care for a child for 40 per cent of the nights in a year.

This could be reduced to 14 per cent.

Payment calculations based on new research showing that subsequent children cost less to care for, and costs rise as children get older.

Compulsory deduction of child-support payments from salary and wages.

A cap on penalties for missing child-support payments.

(One in four New Zealand children will live in single-parent families at some stage. Single parents with dependent children comprise 21 per cent of Kiwi households.)

- © Fairfax NZ News