Massive increases in Child Maintenance payments

There has been a massive 25% increase in the number of absent parents paying child maintenance, since May 2007.

Fourteen and a half thousand parents are now paying what they owe, resulting in an unprecedented twenty one thousand children benefitting. These figures are the highest they have ever been.

The Department for Social Development is also on target to collect a record £20.5million through the statutory maintenance service.

Commenting on the figures, Social Development Minster, Margaret Ritchie said: “There is a very positive story to tell here regarding child maintenance. When I took up office in May 2007, I was determined to do everything in my power to ensure that absent parents paid the money that was owed to children. I stood down the old Child Support Agency and replaced it with the Child Maintenance Enforcement Division. I asked for a much more aggressive approach to be taken. I oversaw a new marketing campaign – Are You Robbing Your Child?

"It is pleasing to note that there is an increase of 25% in child maintenance being paid since I took up office. DSD staff are delivering and I pay tribute to them for the unheralded work they do, often in difficult circumstances.

“But let us not forget who are benefiting from this. It is the children. The thrust of this Executive is, and should be, to put children first. We are certainly doing that in DSD. There is though, still much more to be done and there will be no complacency on our part in robustly pursuing money owed to children by absent parents. There is also a major hearts and minds issue here. We have changed society’s attitude to drinking and driving. We must also make it socially unacceptable to withhold payments from our children.”

Notes to editors

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