Future Directions for Sustainable Child Support Enforcement

When parents divorce, they often face significant challenges in raising their children. However, before the civil law was revised in 2007, divorcing parents weren't required to reach an agreement on child custody and support. As a result, child support, which is essential for the protection and upbringing of minor children, was frequently not paid. To address this, the civil law was revised to ensure agreements on child-rearing were made after a divorce. It also established systems to enforce those agreements when they weren't fulfilled. The 2007 civil law revision made it mandatory for divorcing parents to agree on child support. The court was required to create a protocol for child support payments, making it easier to enforce them. Furthermore, the Family Litigation Act was amended to allow for various measures to secure child support payments, such as direct payment orders and security deposit orders. Legal grounds for detention were also established for those who failed to comply with these obligations. Since it was difficult for custodial parents to navigate these enforcement procedures alone, the Child Support Agency was established in 2015 to assist them. However, this was not enough. The government then introduced stricter measures, including the suspension of driver's licenses, travel bans, public disclosure of names, and criminal penalties for non-payment. Despite these efforts, operational limitations remained. This led to the introduction of a child support advance payment system, where the state pays the child support to the custodial parent and then seeks reimbursement from the non-paying parent. The advance payment is considered a debt owed to the government, treated similarly to delinquent national taxes, and is subject to mandatory collection procedures. These procedures are necessary because child support is often not paid voluntarily. To improve this, it's crucial to create an environment that encourages voluntary compliance. After an advance payment is made, the collection process must be completed to show non-paying parents that fulfilling their obligations is in their best interest. Finally, to ensure the smooth operation of these procedures, it's necessary to strengthen the authority of the Child Support Agency.