The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission has recently published research which reveals a greater level of satisfaction for parents who work out their own child maintenance arrangements than for those using the Child Support Agency (CSA) to make arrangements on their behalf.

Over two thirds of parents with a family-based arrangement said they were happy with their situation, compared with only a third of CSA clients.

Almost 90% of non-resident parents complied with their own arrangements, compared with just under two thirds of those who had payments assessed and enforced by the CSA. Most parents with family-based arrangements (74%) considered those to be fair, compared to only (42%) whose payments were calculated and enforced by the state system.

Ken Sanderson, Chief Executive of Families Need Fathers, said:

“We are not surprised that the research shows that the best possible outcomes for children are achieved when parents work together. That's why we think any encouragement by government for separated families to come to their own arrangements rather than use inflexible state-enforced calculations is a good idea. Too often, in the past, the CSA has been seen by some as a means of creating problems and hardship for ex partners and apportioning blame - we have to move away from this.”