Subjects:

Family Law

Contents:

Part 1 The birth of the Child Support Agency: the development of a political agenda for reforming child support

child support - the international context

children come first - the White Paper and responses

the Child Support Bill in parliament

the research project

the structure of the book. Part 2 The formula: the formula in outline

the formula - the parents' perceptions

the formula - fundamental problems

the Child Support Act 1995 - departures from the formula. Part 3 Child support, social security and the lone parent family: the balance between private and public support for lone parent families

child support, social security and the low paid single parent

the impact of the Child Support Agency. Part 4 Inside the Child Support Agency: the official verdict on the Child Support Agency

agency structure and staffing

priorities

quality versus quantity

the moving target

enforcement strategies

opting out of the Child Support Agency. Part 5 The Child Support Agency from the perspective of parents: the story of Malcolm Bridley and Selena Ericson

delay

targeting

pressure from parents

contacting the right person

resistance

the toothless dragon (or vegetarian tiger)

arrears

from formulaic precision to discretionary rough justice

accountability. Part 6 Redressing grievances through second-tier reviews: the two-step system for challenging an assessment

the story of Stuart and Doreen Mullins

analysis of key themes. Part 7 The Child Support appeal tribunals: ithe story of Stuart and Doreen Mullins (concluded)

analysis of key themes. Part 8 Lawyers and courts: the Child Support Act 1991

the research agenda

the Child Support Agency and ancillary relief

the impact of the Child Support Agency upon the negotiation timetable

the story of Anne and Philip Hughes

anticipating an assessment

solicitor knowledge of and direct involvement with the Child Support Agency

the impact of the Child Support Agency upon solicitors' workloads

key comparisons between Child Support Agency and lawyer-led negotiations. Part 9 Relationships and negotiations: the story of Lynn and Brett Enderby

new families for old

re-visiting the past

something else to quarrel about

misunderstanding the Child Support Agency

administrative failure

the Child Support Agency and voluntary giving

maintenance and contact

disputed paternity

the costs and benefits of an arms-length system

negotiating in the shadow of the Child Support Agency. Part 10 Conclusion: introduction

justice between parents

what is the right balance between state and private resources in supporting children following relationship breakdown?

formula versus discretion

administrative effectiveness

the impact of the Child Support Agency 1991 upon parents' employment prospects and employment decisions

payment and enforcement

final thoughts. Appendix: research method.

This study of the Child Support Agency (CSA) compares the accounts of former husbands and wives with those of their respective legal advisers, and incorporates the experience and views of the CSA staff, who attempted to calculate and enforce child maintenance obligations in the same cases. The media picture of misery visited upon ""absent fathers"" is borne out in part, but the book also describes a catastrophic administrative failure which led to the abandonment of many of the basic tenets of administrative justice. The reasons for this do not lie in the perceived unfairness of the formula, but rather in the failure of those drafting the Child Support legislation to appreciate the impact of such change upon the rest of our hugely complex benefit structure, and their failure to grasp that the problems of inadequate disclosure and ineffective enforcement could not be tackled effectively by a distant bureaucracy.