17 March 2008

Massive child support debt reflects deeper issues

The Family Party says record levels of unpaid child support reflect deeper issues involving attitudes towards parenting. Core debt is now at its highest ever levels at $471 million, a major leap from $192 million in 2000.

Richard Lewis says the government has created an attitude of economic and psychological dependency on the state that makes it easier for parents to walk away from their responsibilities.

"There are 124,541 liable parents with a child support debt, which strongly indicates a diminishing sense of parental responsibility towards children. I think partly because as a society we've become increasingly selfish, we've got a generation of parents who think living off the state is normal, and because government undermines that sense of parental responsibility through excessive political influence and control in the home," says Mr Lewis.

"To reverse the trend we need to address the culture, whereby parental responsibility for children is valued above all else and government butts out of family life," he added.

ENDS

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