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Closed Reform child maintenance and benefit calculations to be fair and prevent poverty

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Make the system fair. If the receiving parent is on benefits then those should be reduced by the amount received in child maintenance.

The income used to calculate the child maintenance rate of the paying parent should be net of taxes, NI and rent. The paying parent's children shouldn’t get less than the receiving parent's.

The current system is putting children in poverty. It is punishing working parents and rewarding those on benefits.

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  • Related activity

    Share your experiences of the Child Maintenance Service

    On Thursday 24 June, Lord Farmer will lead a debate on Child Maintenance Service reform in the House of Lords.

    To inform the debate, Lord Farmer wants to hear about your experiences of the Child Maintenance Service. He may quote your contribution directly during his debate, so please don’t share anything you wouldn’t want to be made public.

    Find out more and share your experiences with Lord Farmer here: https://houseofcommons.shorthandstories.com/child-maintenance-service-/index.html

    Videos of the debate, which is known as a Question for Short Debate (QSD), the transcript and other relevant material will be accessible shortly after the debate on this webpage.

    The deadline for contributions is 12noon on Wednesday 23 June.

    Please note: this debate is separate from any work the Petitions Committee may do on this petition. For more information on how petitions work, visit: https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/sign-a-petition/e-petitions/

    What is a Question for Short Debate?

    Four short debates ('Questions for Short Debate') take place on Thursday every five weeks in Grand Committee of the House of Lords, away from the main Chamber. These debates are an opportunity for members of the House of Lords to discuss important current issues and draw the Government’s attention to concerns. A Government Minister or spokesperson responds at the end to the issues raised in the debate.

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    This petition can now be signed.

    If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

    If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

    This petition will stay open until 13 September 2020.