Independent child maintenance system needed to replace 'adversarial, slow court cases'

The disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on one-parent families has led to  fears it could push some households into poverty.

The government has been told to establish a statutory independent child maintenance system, with an umbrella group claiming it is needed to replace "expensive, adversarial, slow court cases where there is a lack of consistency and very little enforcement".

The call is being made today by the National One-Parent Family Alliance (NOPFA), which formed last year to highlight what it said was the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on one-parent families and fears it could push some households into poverty.