Petition · past parliament
Make child maintenance a legal requirement regardless of employment
Rejected
12 signatures
What the petition asks
Currently the non residential parent only has to pay if they have a job and no dependants. It is also NOT a legal requirement. This means that if a parent gets told they have to pay a lot of money they just quit their job and then not pay a penny.
My daughters dad has done this repeatedly over the years. He gets a job as soon as CMS tell him he has to pay me a certain amount (usually over £100 per month) he quits then the CMS change it to a stupid amount like £0 a month to support a growing child. This is not right. Then they drag their heels organising collect & pay.
Why it was rejected
It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.
Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.
We understand that you are concerned about current arrangements for calculating child maintenance, but we're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do.
Child maintenance is based on the non-resident parent's income, and whether they are responsible for any other children: https://www.gov.uk/how-child-maintenance-is-worked-out
Non-resident parents are required to pay child maintenance whether they are in employment or not, but the amount they will be required to pay may change depending on their income.
We can accept petitions calling to changes how child maintenance rates are calculated, but it would need to be clear what changes you want to be made to these calculations.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received from the Child Maintenance Service, you should contact them directly about this: https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance-service/complaints-and-appeals
We understand that you are concerned about current arrangements for calculating child maintenance, but we're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do.
Child maintenance is based on the non-resident parent's income, and whether they are responsible for any other children: https://www.gov.uk/how-child-maintenance-is-worked-out
Non-resident parents are required to pay child maintenance whether they are in employment or not, but the amount they will be required to pay may change depending on their income.
We can accept petitions calling to changes how child maintenance rates are calculated, but it would need to be clear what changes you want to be made to these calculations.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received from the Child Maintenance Service, you should contact them directly about this: https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance-service/complaints-and-appeals
Timeline
| 27 Jul 2022 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 1 Aug 2022 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
12
Status
Rejected
Rejected
1 Aug 2022
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.