This report summarises the findings from research funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which explored separated parents’ experiences of child maintenance and the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). The research included 24 interviews with separated parents, 1,622 survey responses and responses to Freedom of Information requests to the DWP. 

Key findings 

The research found that: 

1. Children are going without essentials because they are not getting the maintenance they are entitled to.  

1. The CMS is failing to protect people who have experienced domestic abuse and in some cases is making the abuse worse.  

1. The CMS contributes to poorer relationships between separated parents and dealing with the CMS itself is having a negative impact on the well-being of separated parents. 

Underlying these 3 issues are: 

• Poor communication and a poor experience of using the CMS. 

• Exploitation of available loopholes in the system.  

• A lack of action from Government in ensuring maintenance is secured. 

• Poor understanding of domestic abuse by the CMS. 

Key recommendations 

It became clear through our research that parents want, as a priority:  

• Dedicated named caseworkers so that they don’t have to keep retelling their story and to ensure issues are understood and followed up on.  

• A means to contact the service digitally to reduce the stress of long waiting times on the phone and an increase in confidence that the right things were being communicated both ways.  

• Actions to step up on enforcement, to better assess income and to close loopholes that allow non-resident parents to avoid payments.  

• A transformation in training for CMS staff in domestic abuse and for the service to become trauma informed.

The full research report including more detail on findings, methods and limitations can be found here: 

Read the full report here