Child support by an imprisoned parent

Abstract

This article presents the results of the study on selected aspects of child support by an imprisoned parent. The study was based on the analysis of the existing data which included reports published by the Ministry of Justice and the organizational units of the Prison Service. Using the gathered data, a socio-demographic characteristic of imprisoned persons obliged to pay child support has been prepared. Furthermore, posts on several online forums were also treated as the existing data for this study. Their analysis made it possible to, among others, determine what types of problems in connection with child support by an imprisoned parent were perceived by the other parent taking custody of the child. It has been shown that on average, every fifth imprisoned person (in a penitentiary or remand centre) is obliged to pay child support. Among those persons, a clear and growing share is that of persons convicted of not paying child support. It has been found that incarceration does not really help with executing child support payments. Over 50% of imprisoned persons obliged to pay child support has no possibility to earn money. For those who work for remuneration, on account of child support payments, the amounts are deducted several times less than the amount of the average child support in the country. It has also been recognized that some parents do not know how to sue the other incarcerated parent for child support or do not want to apply for alimony because, for example, they believe that they will thus worsen the situation of the incarcerated parent. In conclusion it was stated the child support enforcement only at the imprisonment stage is a delayed action. Furthermore, author’s doubts are also raised regarding the decision to incarcerate persons for the offense of non-alimony, among others, due to the high costs of maintaining prisoners, and because of the stigmatizing nature of imprisonment sanctions.