Child Maintenance: Calling for Fairness, Not Avoidance
- Falsely Accused Network
- Jun 7
- 3 min read
By Michael Thompson, Founder, Falsely Accused Network
Let’s make one thing absolutely clear.
At Falsely Accused Network, we firmly believe that children should be financially supported. We do not support men dodging their responsibilities or hiding from child maintenance. If you’ve brought a child into the world, you should contribute to that child’s welfare. Full stop.
But here’s the problem.
What we’re seeing from many of the men who contact us is not a reluctance to pay for their children – it’s desperation caused by fictional arrears, unrealistic demands, and a system that feels more like punishment than support.
The Problem with the Current System
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS), set up to ensure children receive financial support, has become a source of misery for thousands of men across the UK – and not because they don’t want to support their children. It’s because many are being slapped with massively inflated arrears, sometimes due to paperwork errors, false reports of non-payment, or even malicious claims.
Some men have never even missed a payment – yet they’re told they owe thousands. Others are having huge deductions taken straight from their wages, with no regard for their basic living costs. We’ve spoken to men who are forced to choose between eating and paying maintenance. We’ve spoken to men who ended up homeless.
And tragically, we’ve also spoken to the families of men who didn’t survive it.
No Child Needs That Much
There’s also a growing concern about the amount the CMS demands. In some cases, the figures are so high, they bear no relation to the actual costs of raising a child. The system appears to be based on a calculation model that’s divorced from reality. It doesn’t account for shared care, fluctuating income, or even whether the money is being spent on the child at all.
Let’s be honest: no child needs thousands of pounds a month just to live. What this turns into, in practice, is spousal support through the back door – but without the safeguards and transparency that come with proper court oversight.
What We're Asking For
We’re not calling for the abolition of child maintenance.
We’re calling for fairness.
We’re calling for the withdrawal of fictitious arrears.
We’re calling for a top cap on how much a person should be expected to pay.
And we’re calling for a more transparent, balanced, and humane system – one that ensures children are supported without destroying the mental health and livelihoods of the parents paying it.
There is a better way. One that puts children first without treating one parent like a walking wallet and the other as above scrutiny. We owe it to our children, and we owe it to the thousands of decent men who are being crushed by a system that doesn’t care whether they live or die – only whether they pay.
At Falsely Accused Network, we provide vital support to anyone in England and Wales who has been falsely accused of domestic abuse. Our confidential helpline and online community offer practical guidance, emotional reassurance, and we can link you up with trusted legal professionals and McKenzie friends.Whether you're at the start of the process or navigating complex legal challenges, you don’t have to face it alone.
Visit www.falselyaccusednetwork.co.uk or call us on 0204 538 8788 to get the support you deserve.
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