The abrogation of child support by absent or wayward non-custodial parents at first glance looks like another national scandal, the Otago Daily Times says in an editorial. The child-support debt has soared to almost $2 billion. “Ultimately, it is yet another debt on the taxpayer who, by circuitous means, will end up footing the bill for much of the welfare shortfall occasioned by the debt. By the end of June, the actual amount of unpaid child support was $578m with the remainder of the $1.94b made up of penalties, the editorial says. The discussion paper Supporting Children released by Minister of Revenue Peter Dunne is a timely intervention. “The main proposals of the paper, on which feedback is sought, are: consideration of both parents’ income when calculating child-support payments; a more exact examination of the degree of care provided by a parent in calculating payments; basing calculations on new research showing that children subsequent to the first-born cost less to raise, but that the cost for all rise as they get older; compulsory deductions of child-support payments from salary and wages; and a cap on penalties for missing child-support payments.” The editorial says that in as much as there is both carrot and stick in the proposals, they hold out hope for a system that, if not entirely broken, is creaking perilously. “Should they find their way into new legislation, they might well contribute towards a fairer system.” The element of compulsion entailed in deducting support at source of earnings should help to diminish the perennial deficits – “as long as a suitable design can be achieved, one that also takes account of self-employed non-custodial parents with the wherewithal to employ creative accountants”. The editorial concludes that any new system needs to be carefully thought through, and incorporate as much flexibility and scope for adjustment, according to individual circumstances, as is possible. “But then it must be policed vigorously and creatively. Child support is one additional debt burden this society can do without.” – Otago Daily Times