A letter to Hon. Ruth Dyson
I’m the producer of a documentary currently being made about the Child Support Act (CSA). Hand in hand with that are the troubles with the Family Court (FC), which have driven a lot of families apart.
The documentary is called “The CSA Files” and you can visit www.the-csa-files.webs.com for more information. This email serves as a formal written interview and your response or lack there of will be incorporated into the documentary
Information and statistics are in no short supply thanks to the power of the Internet. Even those that are computer illiterate have no problems finding this information. The people are learning and it’s time for the government to answer some questions…
The situation: The CSA and the FC are mutually exclusive. A NC parent MUST pay regardless of whether they have access or not.
The problem: Many men are paying far more to the ex spouse than needed. On average a child needs $70-100 a week for living expenses and on average NC parents are paying much more than that and some in excess of $250 a week. The CSA has neither ties nor interest regarding the FC and it’s judgments and the FC reciprocates.
The outcome: Many men are now so fed up with the system that a rebellion has established itself. Why are NC parents forced to pay for a child they have no access to? Moreover, if a child needs, on average, $70-100 a week shouldn’t the NC parent be paying no more than $50? In the cases where the payments exceed $250, what is the addition $200 being spent on? Where is the accountability?
The exodus: Given the FC can often rule very little to no access to the children is it any wonder that some men see fit to quit their employment and get out of the country before they are handed a letter from the IRD declaring them bankrupt?
- 37.9% of fathers have no access/visitation rights
- 40% of mothers reported that they had interfered with the non-custodial father’s visitation on at least one occasion, to punish the ex-spouse
- Overall, approximately 50% of mothers “see no value in the father’s continued contact with his children”
- Only 11% of mothers value their husband’s input when it comes to handling problems with their kids. Teachers & doctors rated 45%, and close friends & relatives rated 16%
- The former spouse (mother) was the greatest obstacle to having more frequent contact with the children
- A clear majority (70%) of fathers felt that they had too little time with their children
- Very few of the children were satisfied with the amount of contact with their fathers, after divorce
- Feelings of anger towards their former spouses hindered effective involvement on the part of fathers; angry mothers would sometimes sabotage father’s efforts to visit their children
- Mothers may prevent visits to retaliate against fathers for problems in their marital or post-marital relationship
- 77% of non-custodial fathers are NOT able to “visit” their children, as ordered by the court, as a result of “visitation interference” perpetuated by the custodial parent
- Information from multiple sources show that only 10% of all non-custodial fathers fit the “deadbeat dad” category: 90% of the fathers with joint custody paid the support due. Fathers with visitation rights pay 79.1%; and 44.5% of those with NO visitation rights still financially support their children
- Additionally, of those not paying support, 66% are not doing so because they lack the financial resources to pay
- 52% of fathers who owe child support earn less than minimum wage per year
- 66% of single mothers work less than full time while only 10% of fathers fall into this category. In addition, almost 47% of non-custodial mothers default on support compared with the 27% of fathers who default
- 66% of all support not paid by non-custodial fathers is due to inability to pay
From an outsiders point of view the non-paying NC parent is a disgrace to the nation and should not get away with not paying. They should be stopped at airports and hung from the nearest tree… well, that is the picture painted by our government. The truth is that those who are not directly involved with the FC or CSA have no idea what is going on and are lead by a number of policies to believe that men are bad. Just ask Air NZ.
Why are SOME men not paying child support? See the above statistics for the answer.
What is being done about it? The CSA is persecuting and punishing the non-paying NC parent by issuing fines and adding interest each month to an already unattractive amount.
It is increasingly apparent that a) The Human Rights Act is being ignored and b) This country no longer wants NC parents living on these shores.
Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
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Allan,
I wish – Onward – Jim
“When Republicans get over the 5%”
Not if but when!
A man of vision who can see beyond his red undies! LOL
Regards
Scrap
Sorry to change the subject, but in America, men have an excellent opportunity to make a mark. Barak Obama has chosen Senator Biden, the man who created VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) and the subsequent witch hunting against men that followed. This anti male philosophy has spread around the industrial world eventually to NZ. It is a great chance for all this to be turned back, the number of abused men deprived of their families by these scandalaous wrecking laws must be reaching a critical mass in the USA by now. I have been turned from socialist to conservative by my injust treatment by the law in NZ, and i am sure that i am not the only one. The experiences that many of us have had overshadow our traditional political choices.
If this can be achieved there will be a future impact for NZ Dads too, NZ is a small “follower” nation,
Anyone who has a vote in the upcoming US elections should be told about what Senator Biden has done to us ! I would even vote George W in again, simply because of the terrible way men are treated
The lads and lassies from the states guard their right to vote very jealously. Tax paying, permanent residency are not good enough to be in the position of vote casting it’s citizenship alone.
More accurate to say that the states and all the America’s have learnt from us about DV (VAWA) stuff. We even imported (and gave the vote to) one Ruth Busch from North America to generate our DVA for us and she made dam sure it recognised testicles as angry agressive perpetrators of violence and created PO’s as a legislative form of emasculation. It didn’t get eventually here we have exported the disease of DV paranoia to other places. Earlier this year I was asked to speak to a visiting US law school who had especially come to study NZ’s unique (and I’m sure they would say progressive) approach to DV.
YO! – Somebody who sees the truth – Post 54 is on-to-it
New Zealand has played a major roll for many years in exporting much that has been disastrous to Mum-Dad-and-the-Kids
The UN loves NZ for its exports and influence
Glad to see you monitoring the states Martin but you have missed the truth here
The Ration Shed communiqué (Use Google) will go a long way to keeping one informed should you want a reality check outside the perimeter of influence of the heavily Spin Doctored media influences we NZ’ers endure
There are several in the so called NZ Mens and Fathers Movement who are either plants or just plain naive who feed the Spin Doctors and thus damage the work of the sincere
Onward – Jim
It may be that NZ has/had a major effect on the UN but don’t forget that feminists had a country hold world office for a length of time and then moved to another country. At the moment I see a lot of our following and the female leaders are coming from Canada. Nor sure if others are seeing this also?
Julie,
Good points Julie – I shall keep closer watch
Onward – Jim
[...] recorded first by rustynuts7747 on 2008-09-14→ A letter to Hon. Ruth Dyson [...]
HI!
I was so over joyed to find this site!
I want to share with you my exsperience of how CSA wrecked my family,
My storie is some wat complicated and may leave the reader flabagasted,some may even say im a stupid man to let that happen..
At the birth of my 1st child i am naturally elated and anticipate my duties as a proud but ‘green’ dad,two months down the track i receive a letter from inland revenue saying i am paying child support for my new born,obviously i am enraged at my partner and confront her with the issue,only to get a arrogant stare followed buy no answer,she is on the DPB without saying anything and i dont understand why because there has been no physical abuse,no mental abuse no abuse wat so eva.
Naturally the relationship becomes stale and i am left wondering wat to do because she has made our relationship illegal,i loose respect for her and we dont talk much.
At this point you may be asking yourself ‘why didnt you object to her application for child support’ simply because i didnt receive the objection letter(im assuming she intercepted it) and she tells me she will leave and i will never see my kids again.
I love my kid so i dont push the issue and i stay in the situation form my kids sake.
we go on to have another child and my child support payments increase, i continue paying child support for five years and after much coaching and koaxing and at the end of my tether,i manage to get her to go work (yes i have been in full time work up to this point)and i think to myself “YAY! ive done it”
But alas! ive created a monster she spends like an american banker and floods us in debt wich i am left to pick up the tab which pushes me to breaking point.
But i dont break i leave the relationship after 14 years,i want to take my kids but my work dosent allow me to be there to send them off to school and to be there when they get home..so i reluctantly left them,
Not even a month goes by when i receive THE LETTER frm IRD and this time i object on the grounds stated above..IRD replies “there are no special circumstaces or grounds that do not make you liable to contribute to my childrens care giver”
im at the end of the road,i miss my kids,ive lost the will to go on,but coming across this web site gives me hope my head has lifted!
any advice out there? ive been to all the relevant agencies for help but nothing.