This Families Commission issues paper discusses the importance of promoting and investing in cooperative parenting and looks at options for change that would provide more equity, flexibility and information for separating parents.
The paper has been developed to provide broader family perspectives on the coming review of the New Zealand child support scheme.
Purpose
This paper pulls together themes and issues from recent Families Commission research and other literature on separated parents and the care and contact arrangements made for their children. The paper also considers the extent to which current social policy settings and services meet the needs of separating parents and encourage parents to establish co-operative parenting relationships.
By co-operative parenting, we mean a parenting style in which parenting practices are consistent, conflict is low and parents can communicate effectively about their children. ‘Shared care’ is used to mean arrangements in which the child spends a specified amount of time in the care of each parent. In cooperative parenting, the parents prioritise the needs of the child over their own needs, regardless of the proportion of the time a child is in their care.
It is important to note that co-operative parenting and/or shared care arrangements may not be practicable in some family situations. Where there are issues of abuse or mental health problems, it may be appropriate for contact between parents or with children to be restricted or supervised. Such situations are complex and beyond the scope of this paper.
In particular the focus is on the issues that arise when parents seek support and information, and when they use the Child Support Scheme. It is important to improve support and information for separated parents in order to improve outcomes for families. It also specifies the areas where the knowledge base is deficient.
The Minister of Revenue has announced a review of the Child Support Scheme, and is expected to release a discussion document in September 2009.
Our paper seeks to inform public discussion and debate before the release of the Child Support Scheme discussion document. It contextualises the Commission’s understanding of separated parents’ experiences in making financial arrangements.
The Commission has an interest in ensuring that families going through separation are appropriately supported in a way that encourages co-operative parenting and that the Child Support Scheme reflects the complexities of actual parenting arrangements and is as fair as possible given their diversity.