Abstract

Sweeping changes to the Australian Child Support Scheme were recently introduced, featuring a dramatically different system for the calculation of child support. The reforms were intended to respond to ongoing concerns about equity and changes in social expectations and practices in gender, work and parenting. The extent to which the new Scheme is ‘fairer’ and will improve the wellbeing of children and their families needs to be tested. Drawing on published Government data, this article examines the initial distributional impacts of the new Scheme and discusses key policy and research issues arising from these data. At a general level, non-resident parents (mostly fathers) were more likely than resident parents (mostly mothers) to experience net gains under the new Scheme. Low-income families, and resident parents with part-time or casual employment, appear to be among those most likely to have been hardest hit by the recent reforms, though the government modelling suggests that net losses are likely to be $20 or less a week in absolute terms. While the paper does not assess behavioural changes resulting from the child support reforms, it is important to keep a watching brief of how the new Scheme is evolving on the ground.

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.