Child Support Maintenance in the UK - Explaining Parent with Care Perspective - Research Proposal Example

Child Support Maintenance and Child Support maintenance is a practice that has been around for sometime in the UK. It is an issue that has been mired with controversies starting with the Child Support Act 1991. The inefficiency of the Child Support Agency in administering child support has hardly made the work easier for stakeholders in the child support industry. One of the most controversial issues is having the parents with care in the child support maintenance. There is a new legislation that is supposed to abolish this, but even though it is in place, its provisions have not yet started being enforced. It begs the question of whether the UK’s system that has parent with care in child support maintenance is correct in doing so. This paper answers that question along with explaining the reason for the existence of that situation. Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………2 Research Title……………………………………………………………………………4 Background……………………………………………………………………………...4 Statement of the Problem………………………………………………………………..5 Objectives of the Study…………………………………………………………………6 Research Questions……………………………………………………………………...6 Literature Review………………………………………………………………………..7 Methodology……………………………………………………………………………11 Research Philosophy…………………………………………………………….11 Data Collection methods………………………………………………………..12 Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………13 Ethical Issues……………………………………………………………………13 References………………………………………………………………………………15 Child Support Maintenance Title The tentative research title for this research will be ‘Child Support Maintenance in the UK: Explaining Parent with Care Perspective.’ It is tentative and, therefore, subject to change as the objectives of the research will direct. Background Child support maintenance has been around in the UK for a very long time. It is one of those areas of interest that has raised so much heat in the legal and legislative arenas. Child maintenance involves providing financial help for a child’s everyday living costs which include food, clothes and a home for the child (Wikeley, 2006). This situation usually arises when there are parents who have divorced or separated such that only one of them remains with the custody of the child or children. The parent who takes the responsibility of providing the full care for the child is the one defined as the parent with care under s. 3(3) of the Child Support Act 1991 (Heaton, 2013). The couple may decide to arrange a private family-based arrangement where the parents agree on the terms of maintaining the child. Alternatively, they may decide to go the statutory way; the child maintenance service. Before 30th November 2013, the Child Support Agency established under the Child Support Act 1991 was the body tasked with determining and remitting of the maintenance contributions. However, it was found to be inefficient as the resources it was using to run and administer its services were more than the monetary value of its benefits (Heaton, 2013). The Child Support Act is the main legislation that is used to govern child maintenance in the UK. It provides the legal framework for the payment of child maintenance (Gov.uk, 2014). It also explicates the importance of paying child maintenance and points out that it supports the child’s expenses and is also a way of getting both parents involved in the life of that child or children. It provides that when the parents separate they should dessert their responsibilities towards their child. These responsibilities include making sure that their child has a home to live in and that the child is supported financially (Jones and Perrin, 2009). This proposal tries to set a platform from where this legislation will be examined for its validity and correctness. Statement of the Problem A parent with care is a person who has the full time care of the child. Usually, it is the parent who receives child support payments from the ‘absent’ parent. As mentioned earlier, the Child Support Act of 1991 is the main legislation that regulates child maintenance in the UK through its body called the Child Support Agency. This Agency has been phased out to be replaced by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (Jones and Perrin, 2009). There are also new rules that have come to replace or repeal some of the provisions of the Child Support Act 1991; one such legislation is the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Acts 2008. The Child Support Act section 6 instructed the parents with care on income support or job seeking allowance to apply for child maintenance (Stowe, 2014). This meant that the non-resident parent and the parent with care both had to contribute towards the maintenance of the child. The legislation stated that action will be taken to any parent with care who does not apply for maintenance yet receives state benefits including reduction of those benefits. However, the new legislation, most specifically s. 15 of the CMOPA 2008, repealed s. 6 of the Child Support Act and required parents to voluntarily make arrangements to provide for the child (Counley, 2013). The main problem is that, though this new provision is clear, it is yet to start being implemented. In the mean time, the child support maintenance still requires parents with care to make contributions toward child maintenance. Since the previous directions which are being phased out were instituted and carried out by the Child Support Agency which the government is getting rid of, a question arises as to whether it is correct to continue having parents with care in child support maintenance. Objectives of the Research The aim of the research is to determine whether it is correct having parents with care applying for child support maintenance. In achieving this, the paper will try to meet the following objectives: a) To investigate the effectiveness of the new legislation concerning child support maintenance. b) To describe parents with care and their perspective. c) To determine how the slow transition from the older schemes to the new schemes are affecting parents with care. d) To draw meaningful conclusions and make recommendations. Research Questions a) Who are parents with care and to what extent is the rationale behind having them in the child support maintenance justified. b) How effective is the new legislation and the body replacing Child Support Agency in sustaining the progressive changes that have been instituted. c) To what extent is the Child Support industry ready to enact the new provisions? d) What are the implications of slowly phasing out the old provisions to the parents with care? Is it correct to still implement the old provisions yet the new ones are in place? Literature Review Child maintenance is essential in all societies. This is to protect the children from harm by ensuring that their rights as envisaged in the Human Rights Convention on the Rights of a Child are protected (Child Support Solutions, 2011). One of these rights is the right to a home. Therefore, even though the parents separate, one of the parents, the guardian or even the state will take the responsibility of seeing that the child is taken care of. The child support system has become essential in the societies world over. Christie (2014) therefore states that due to its popularity in societies that seek justice for children, it is essential that there are some clear implementation strategies in place. These strategies differ with countries’ legislations. In the UK, the welfare of the child is paramount as indicated by the 1989 Children Act. This insistence has seen the agencies responsible handle a record 933, 100 cases of child support maintenance, an increment of over 100,000 cases from 2012 (Christie, 2014). This is exclusive of the private family-based arrangements that are being made between separated or divorced parents. The UK law has been very clear that when parents separate it is their collective responsibility to support the child. The Child Support Act of 1991 made sure of that by directing that both contribute towards the upkeep. However, the parent with care was also supposed to get some out of work benefits from Income support. Many stakeholders in the child support industry were of the opinion that parents with care are not supposed to be in the support maintenance (Counley, 2013). Heaton (2013) points out that the provision that if the non-resident parent takes care of the child for at least two weeks then gets a reduction in the payments remitted towards child support confirmed the assertion that parents with care should not be included in the payment. However, some scholars are arguing that this will not be fair to the non-resident parent and will be viewed as a form of punishment for being ‘absent’ (Jones and Perrin, 2009). But a good legislation especially one that is designed for the well-being of the family should not only be fair but also be seen as fair. The Child Support Act was therefore based on justice and not morality (Wikeley, 2006). The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 contrast the earlier Child Support Act in that it is based on morality as opposed to justice. CMOPA 2008 has the main objective of maximizing the number of children receiving maintenance support from the parents (Stowe, 2014). Instead of using force to make this happen it encourages parents to use logic and take responsibility towards their children. It encourages parents to make voluntary arrangements for their children. It has shifted the way parents viewed the whole issue from rights to responsibility. Before the enactment CMOPA 2008, a parent with care who is on benefit, that is, receives income support or job-seeking allowance, was required to apply for the child’s support maintenance. Under s. 6 of the Child Support Act, the parent with care had no choice but to comply lest the benefits were reduced unless they had a very good plausible reason not to (Lowe and Douglas, 2007). It also had some penalties for those parents with care who failed to comply under s. 46 of the Child Support Act 1991. This law was based on rights and cared more about justice. The new legislation, s. 15 of the CMOPA 2008, has repealed the provision requiring parents with care to apply for child support maintenance. The new claimants are not legally required to apply for the child’s maintenance and cannot be punished for doing so (Heaton, 2013). This is where child support is moving towards, where parents will be voluntarily supporting their children even after divorce or separation. This legislation is based on responsibility and morality. There are different classes of thoughts that are applied to arrive at these two different conclusions. The first one is that parents with care need to actually be exempted from applying for child support maintenance since they are the parents with the larger responsibilities towards the child. According to its proponents, these parents with care should be given the relief of not contributing because of their many responsibilities (Jones and Perrin, 2009). But critics argue that that move will be unfair to the non-resident parent who will be providing the substantial part of the child’s maintenance. According to Counley (2013), a parent with care who is on benefits and yet disregards maintenance only seeks to increase their personal income. If this is allowed then it will trigger many more separations due to the financial gains that are bound to be realized by the parent with care. This assertion is yet to be substantiated but many scholars are citing it as the reason why even though there is a new legislation in place it is still the old practices from the old scheme that are being implemented. So, what is the rationale behind advocating for parents with care to be excluded from maintenance? The rationale is known as the care perspective, a concept of moral reasoning in psychology. The care perspective focuses on the parents in terms of connectedness, concern for others and the need to have good relationships with others. It views the preservation of relationships as the main way of minimizing hurts to the parent with care and to the child who has been affected by the divorce or the separation (Gilligan, 1982). The care perspective places emphasis on attachment and compassion over considerations of justice and rights. It emphasizes on the moral injunction for parents not to act in a way that is unfair to the other. Most importantly, it provides that a parent should never turn away from a child in need. The CMOPA 2008 uses this model to exempt parents with care from applying for the child support maintenance. It presumes that these parents will make good ethical decisions by using what Gilligan (1982) called the third level of maturity in ethical consideration. According to a research conducted by Gilligan there are three levels of maturity which were duly explained. The first level is where a child define a right and wrong depending on what authorities tell them is good or bad or in terms of which acts they will get punished and which ones they will get rewarded. The second level is employed by adolescents and base their rights and wrongs on family and friend’s loyalties. The third and the highest level is that of defining right and wrong based on principles of justice where one impartially considers the interests of all persons. Here, care is motivated by the increasing need of human beings to maintain relationships and the attempt to maintain one’s own integrity by taking care of one’s self but not neglecting others at the same time. In summary, a lot have been made of the potential impact of the new legislation on parents with care. For many people, this means a relief for these parents but to others this is an opportunity to show maturity from both parents by voluntarily agreeing to take care of their child. It is also clear that it is neither right nor wrong to include parents with care in child support maintenance. The view taken will depend on the perspective that one looks from. Those who take the rights and justice perspective feel that it is correct while those that root for responsibility and morality may think otherwise. More research should be done on this area of research to ascertain to what extent the responsibility of a parent with care should be towards child support maintenance. Methodology a) Research Philosophy This research is analytical in nature since the objective of the study is to investigate the correctness of the UK child support system in including parent with care. It goes beyond explaining why it is so. A research philosophy refers to the preferred approach applied by the researcher in search of knowledge, establishing the nature of the problem and its context (Caulley, 2007). Here, the existence of the problem, knowledge, values and reason are clearly delineated. This research will be based on a positivism type of paradigm. This is the school of thought that advocates for reality and objectivity. The purpose of a research based on positivism is to find causal relationship between variables through deductive reasoning in order to be in a position to estimate probabilities and make predictions and other meaningful recommendations (Jones, 2002). Through objectivity, an essential component of positivism, valid answers can be derived from the research. If compared with other research philosophies and paradigms such as realism and interpretivism, positivism clearly offers the flexibility and clarity of procedures on which this type of research can be based. For instance, interpretivists argue that for a research to be credible then it must look at the human side of the problem. They therefore place a lot of importance on the values and beliefs that the affected society upholds. These feelings to positivists are not necessary; the researcher’s beliefs have no value to significantly influence the research study. What is important in positivism philosophy is that experiments should be conducted, effects observed, logical deduction be made and objective conclusion and recommendations be made from the same (Snyder, 2012). This research operates under the presumption that parents with care should not be included in the child support maintenance as proposed in the new law. With objectivism in mind, this research will get as many views on the subject as possible. The study will employ a deductive approach. The data collected will be interpreted objectively and then deductive reasoning will be used to draw findings, conclusions and recommendations. b) Data Collection Methods The research population consists of all the stakeholders in the child support industry. The research population is the collection of individuals, objects or elements that the study focuses on. In this study the research population includes the government, child support agencies in place, legislators and parents who have been under the three schemes of child support since their inception. The sampling frame will be drawn from this population. The frame is that population that has been selected and the researcher is sure can provide the data or information required. The samples will consequently be drawn from the sampling frame. Purposive sampling, which is non-probabilistic, will be employed in drawing the sample. The sample is selected to provide as much information as possible on the subject (Bryman, 2004). Focus groups, questionnaires, and document analysis will be used to collect information. Through focus groups the tentative solutions to these problems can be arrived at and opinions of major players can be captured while relevant cases in the past studied by consulting the library. Document review will be used to interrogate documented sources such as past research and child support records from the past. c) Data Analysis Techniques Data analysis is the process of summarizing, categorizing, identifying latent patterns and themes in a study and linking them so that they make sense. After research most researchers end up with huge chunks of raw data, this data is of no use if the researcher cannot make sense of them (Bryman, 2004). This research is based on an evolving field going through rapid changes. It is also a qualitative research aimed at obtaining views and opinions and so the range of variation will have to be increased and the level of validity of the data collected lowered. The data collected will be huge yet it still needs to be analyzed correctly and effectively. Therefore, this study will employ a combination of induction method and content analysis. Content analysis will be used to identify the major themes while induction will be used to inform the line of reasoning (Jones, 2002). These methods of data analysis were the most relevant to be used in this study given the nature of the research questions asked, the theoretical framework of the study and lastly their appropriateness to such qualitative type of study. d) Ethical Issues Although the research is dealing with a highly contentious issue the research questions do not pose any physical, psychological or emotional damage to the participants. The research questions along with the objectives of the study, the methodology and framework will be filled in an ethical form and submitted to the ethical board for approval before the commencement of the study. As for informed consent of participants, the questionnaires will directly provide that the participants fill it voluntarily. The secondary data from the various sources such as libraries will be obtained and used with direct consent from the owners of the documents or the person in authority though a written consent note. A different consent form will be drafted for different participants. This research will definitely have to use a lot of personal data and information. The researcher understands the importance of privacy and how keen people are in protecting their personal information so that it is not misused by malicious people. Therefore this research will be guided by the European Union Data Protection Directive 1995 which is the main law that governs data protection (Lowe and Douglas, 2007). In collecting personal information this study therefore will ask the express permission of the participants to use their personal information for the purpose of this study only. A written agreement will be drawn. Also, the participant will be informed of his right to back out of the research study if their personal information is changed or misrepresented or otherwise without their consent. To protect the anonymity of individuals their comments will be made anonymous by generating false names or using numbers instead of real names. The data collected will then be destroyed after data analysis. The questionnaires will be scanned and stored in a secure computer system while the physical questionnaire papers will be destroyed so that they do not fall into wrong hands (Snyder, 2012). References Beck. C., 2003. Initiation into Qualitative Data analysis. Journal of Education, 42(3), pp.231. Bryman, A., 2004. Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Caulley, D., 2007. Review of Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Qualitative Research Journal, 6(2), pp. 227. Child Support Solutions., 2011. Parent with care (PWC). Child Support Solutions, [online] Available at: [Accessed 6th January 2014]. Christie, M., 2014. Divorce and Children: Your child maintenance questions answered. Marilyn Stowe blog, [online] Available at: [Accessed 6th January 2014] Counley, M., 2013. Family law blog: Changes to child support rules. Wooley & co solicitors, [online] Available at: [Accessed 6th January 2014] Evans, M., and Millar, J., 2006. Welfare to work in the United Kingdom. Journal of Policy, 45(3), pp. 61-75. Gilligan, C., 1982. In a different voice: Psychology Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Gov.uk., 2014. How Child Maintenance is worked out. Gov.uk, [online] Available at: [Accessed 6th January 2014] Heaton, E., 2013. Child’s Play? New Law Journal, [online] Available at: [Accessed 6th January 2014] Jones, J., and Perrin, C., 2009. Third Time Lucky? The third child support reforms replace the child support agency with the new CMEC. Journal of Social Welfare for Family Law, 31(3), pp. 333-342. Jones, S., 2002. Rewriting the Word: Methodological strategies and issues in qualitative research. Journal of College Student Development, 43(4), pp.461-474. Lowe, N., and Douglas, G., 2007. Family Law. 10th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Snyder, C., 2012. A case study of a case study: An analysis of a robust Qualitative Research Methodology. Qualitative Report, 17(6), pp. 20-32. Stowe, M., 2014. The Child Maintenance Service: A new era to child support. Marilyn Stowe blog, [online] Available at: [Accessed 6th January 2014] Wikeley, N., 2006. Child Support Law and Policy. Oxford: Hart Publishing. Read More