More Dads Taking Up Bigger Role After Split

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday March 27, 2007

Stephanie Peatling

MORE men are suddenly applying to become the primary carer of their children after their relationships end, and one in five single-parent families are now headed by fathers.

In June 1997 only 7.5 per cent of people receiving child support payments were men. But figures released by the Federal Government yesterday show that by the end of last year, 21 per cent of applications were from men, a jump being attributed to changing social attitudes.

"What we're seeing through our dealings with parents is dads wanting to play a greater role in their children's lives," said the assistant general manager of the Child Support Agency, David Mole.

The agency talks to or sees up to 11,000 parents a day, and it believes most of the increase in fathers becoming primary carers happened last year.

Bruce Smyth, an associate professor at the Australian National University, said: "You're getting an early read on the signs dads are becoming more involved."

The figures also show that non-custodial parents who pay child support to the custodial parent are spending more time with their children. Nearly 10 per cent now look after their children for at least 30 per cent of the time, while only 4.4 per cent did so in 1999.

It is unclear how much the figures might have been affected by anticipation of the Federal Government's controversial changes to the child support payments, which come into effect in July next year.

Instead of payments being calculated as a percentage of the taxable income of the parent paying the support, they will be based on the combined income of both parents. That means about 60 per cent of non-residential parents - usually fathers - can expect their payments to be reduced, which has angered women's groups.

Some mothers, anticipating less money from former husbands, may want them to carry more of the burden of child raising.

Whatever the reasons, the Minister for Human Services, Chris Ellison, sees the latest figures as a bright spot amid the difficulties of failing relationships. "While no one wants relationships to fail, many families in Australia manage to go forward positively with their lives after separation and increasingly children are benefitting from more contact with both parents," Senator Ellison said.

Professor Smyth cautioned against making any pronouncements that the shift in custody patterns were any better for children. It was too early to look at how the arrangements were affecting them.

However, Mr Mole said the trend was a welcome development.

"We're more flexible now with working part-time and the types of jobs people take up which might allow them to be the primary carer for children," he said. "That's reflected in more of a balance in caring arrangements with both parents playing a greater role."

Increasing numbers of parents are also choosing to work out their custody arrangements and payments without the involvement of the Government. More than half - 52 per cent - of separated parents choose not to have the agency involved in their custody deals, although those arrangements are still registered with the agency.

The child support changes were designed to take into account the time each parent spends caring for a child. Single mothers' groups fear more children will be raised with less because of lower support payments.

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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