Child Maintenance Service: Reform
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which international child maintenance systems his Department has reviewed in the last five years as comparators for reform of the Child Maintenance Service; and what key lessons were identified.
Answered by Andrew Western
The Child Maintenance Service keeps international practice under review and draws on lessons from other systems where appropriate. In recent years, we have looked at approaches in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the United States.
While international approaches differ and direct comparisons are challenging, our review indicates that the UK Child Maintenance system is effective at tackling child poverty. In the UK, child maintenance payments do not reduce benefit entitlements, which boosts household income and strengthens efforts to reduce child poverty. By separating child maintenance from benefits, the UK approach strengthens its impact on reducing poverty and may improve incentives to pay, ensuring the support is meaningful for both parents.
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