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Child support payments up

More than four in five separated parents now pay to support their children through the Child Support Agency, compared to just two out of five three years ago, Work and Pensions Minister Steve Webb will say later.

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Child support payments 'now the normal thing to do'

Work and Pensions minister Steve Webb said that Britain had "turned an important corner" in recent years to become a country where looking after your child financially after a relationship has ended has become the norm.

Speaking at the Child Support Agency prepared to stop accepting new applications at the end of this year, as the new Child Maintenance Service is rolled out, he said:

Britain has turned an important corner in recent years in becoming a country where taking financial responsibility for your children after a break up is the normal thing to do. Those parents who think otherwise are a small and dwindling minority.

What we're trying to do is to channel that commitment to empower parents to take control of their own lives and come to their own family-based arrangements to support their children."

Read: Child support payments 'up to 81%'

Child support payments 'up to 81%'

More than four in five separated parents are now paying to support their children through the Child Support Agency, compared to just two out of three five years ago, the Work and Pensions minister Steve Webb said.

Government figures on child support payment suggest the number of separated parents paying has went up 20% over the past five years. Credit: PA

81.% of separated parents now pay child maintenance to their former partners, a rise of almost 20% in five years.

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