$873m owed in child support
Nearly $1 billion in child support is now owed by absentee parents as the number of broken families in New Zealand skyrockets.
A Ministry of Social Development study estimates one in two mothers will, at some stage, raise their children alone — a trend the Government says is reflected in the $873 million owed in child support.
The figure represents a 19 per cent increase on the amount owed 12 months ago.
Associate Revenue Minister David Cunliffe acknowledged the level of unpaid debt was unacceptable.
However, he blamed the 20% increase on more broken relationships resulting in more child support payments.
“As IRD (the Inland Revenue Department) deals with more people and greater amounts over time that debt is likely to increase,” he said.
National Party social welfare spokeswoman Katherine Rich said the Government should apply more “aggressive measures”, such as blocking parents who owed “reasonably-sized” child support debts from leaving the country through greater links between the Inland Revenue and Immigration departments.
Ah yes, Child support staff. What a compassionate bunch. I clearly recall the misery of being a full time student in Hamilton; Being lectured in Social Sciences by idiots who claimed ‘men have all the power’, cycling around in the rain and fog, living on a student allowance of $125 per week, paying $85 a week in rent, $40 for food and powerbills, AND STILL BEING LEVERAGED UNDER THREAT OF THE LAW TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT FOR AN ABDUCTED SON to a vex who was living in a Hamilton Lakeside Manse, eating in restaurants and holidaying in the Islands each year. Did IRD give a shit about this father? Yeah right.
Stephen Gee.
Comment by Stephen — Fri 14th January 2005 @ 3:25 pm
To Aunty Helen and Uncle David [Cunliffe],
Does this exponentially increasing debt not say something to you about the unjust and improper nature of the Child
SupportTax Act 1991?If not, it should. How can the Child Support Agency (CSA) claim to be improving the lot of our children? Their compassion, or complete lack of it, is obvious, but to penalise our children and make a large number of them fatherless is criminal and negligent.
Wake up and smell the coffee! Someone in government or the CSA needs to grow a spine (we are growing tired of dealing with invertebrate life-forms) and throw out this anachronism immediately.
Very soon there are going to be some rock-solid examples of mis-administration by the CSA brought into the Court of Public Opinion. This will show the CSA to be systemically and endemically unethical and immoral.
2005: Vote Wise! Tell the “big” parties what you think of their abysmal styles of government.
Comment by Mark — Wed 19th January 2005 @ 10:44 am
Interesting reading all this shit.
I must congratulate the gentleman taking on being a lawyer fighting for the cause. There are many fathers by now who should do the same and form a partnership representing men against the wives who decide the grass is greener on the other side while disregarding the effect this has on the morale of the children.
Also the 30 million or so being paid to lawyers through legal aid should be scrapped.
If the cost was to be born by the women and men for family break up they may think twice.
The law as it is today will result in no families in the future as no man will be happy living under the constant threat of being denuded plus alienated from his children.
The bit about paternity check is OK but a child is a child and need support one way or the other and who gives a toss who planted the seed.
For your information, I have been married twice, divorced and denuded of property and money and refuse to be had again.
Have also found out that married or not, the law of the land will take everything from you anyway so??
There is one fact no one will recognise and that is that a woman (any woman unless sexually bent) is on this world to procreate and that their sole purpose is to do this and will go to any length to achieve this.
We are an animal species and nothing we say or do will ever change it.
Through history there have been periods of male and female domination and the present cycle is in favour of the women. It will swing the other way again especially with the spread of religions making men stand at the head of the family.
However this will not swing peacefully. It usually need a violent revolution as has been shown in the past.
Look a bit further than your nose and you will see worldwide that in the end the primary roles of the genders will return to what it should be as ordained by nature.
In the meantime fight for fairness in the Courts as the lecherous lawyers will drag all cases out for the last drop of blood.
Just another male
Ren Berghuis
Comment by Marinus Berghuis — Thu 10th February 2005 @ 8:33 am
Agree with the three previous gentlemen.
I got unemployment insurance because I could not find a job. My wife was persuaded by social workers to separate from me.
I took care of the children 80% of the time.
She partied. Too drugs. Beat the children.
She got free housing — free refrigerator — free clothing — free food — free medical care.
We both got free lawyers. The difference was that my lawyer worked for her and tried to give her full custody.
I got custody.
That lasted three years.
Her free lawyers wore me out financially.
The end result is that I have not been able to see the children for years and she still gets free stuff while she earns illegally (does not report her income) at least $100,000 a year as a prostitute as she uses the children in the sex trade!
Me? I have to pay child support!!!!!
Comment by Frank — Fri 2nd June 2006 @ 5:46 am
Child support sucks when the custodial mother’s financial state is not compared and considered next to the man’s.My ex has married a taiwanese businessman and is very comfortable.She has my 10 y.o. girl .I struggle to pay support;the more I work the more I pay.My overheads usually exceed my income.I live on the bread line.Any savings I have had after 5 years of payments have nearly gone.She has bought a new car and ;surprise;the repayments are the same as my support payments.This continues till I am 59.What can I do?Leave the country and hide even though I love my daughter dearly;that or suffer a terminal increasing poverty.Any ideas fellow poverty stricken dads?
Comment by keith — Fri 4th August 2006 @ 7:29 pm
Hi Keith,
Read this post. It has the details for you.
http://menz.org.nz/2006/inquiry-into-child-support-reviews/
Comment by julie — Fri 4th August 2006 @ 10:51 pm