****Please could you sign the UK Government and Parliament petition (link below) as we can get a direct response from the Government with this one. Thank you!****

GOVERNMENT PETITION - https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598757/sponsors/new?token=Ir4MU1w6tg2bZWrrmwRs

I urge you to join me in asking the UK Government to increase the statutory flat rate of Child Maintenance to £21.15. The current weekly minimum amount of Child Maintenance that a paying parent must pay is £7 per week (in some cases £0) which does not reflect the financial cost of raising a child in today's economy. Too many paying parents are being allowed to pay such minimal contributions due to flimsy and inadequate child maintenance formulas and policies and lack of accurate assessments on affordability.

Together, we must ask our Government to impose higher minimum standards of Child Maintenance so that those who bear parental responsibility for a child, are also responsible for financially supporting the child with a minimum financial contribution of £21.15 per week (£14.00 per week for any subsequent children or qualifying young person). This mirrors our current Child Benefit entitlement and should be paid regardless of the paying parents individual circumstances, except where doing so would cause extreme hardship to the paying parent that cannot be alleviated by local or national support such as advance benefits payments, money and budgeting advice, food banks, employment support, local council initiatives etc. This exemption must be applied for and proven unequivocally. In circumstances where the paying parent earns income or owns assets, the current formula for Child Maintenance should be applied.

Child Poverty Action Group (CAPG) ran a report to find the average total of having children in 2019. They found that up to the age of 18, the cost of raising a child in a single parent family costs a staggering £185,000. Those with parental responsibility who do not reside with the child and share day to day costs and care of the child must be made to contribute an adequate minimum amount towards that. £7 per week is not an adequate minimum amount.

This change would mean that ALL* children in England would be entitled to a minimum of £42.30 per week (£28 per week for any subsequent children or qualifying young person) in a combination of Child Benefit and Child Maintenance, creating wider opportunities for physical and emotional development. This increase should also not affect the receiving parents current tax liabilities or benefits entitlement.

*Child Benefit individual rules apply.