Petition · past parliament · Department for Work and Pensions

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

Closed 69 signatures

What the petition asks

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.

Timeline

13 Mar 2020 Petition opened for signatures
13 Sep 2020 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 69
Status Closed
Department Department for Work and Pensions
Opened 13 Mar 2020
Closed 13 Sep 2020

Follow this petition

Sign in to get an email when the government responds, a debate is scheduled or held, or the petition closes.

Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.