Design Charles & Ray Eames - Hang it all © Vitra Non-compliance in child maintenance obligations – A new ‘social risk’? Frederic De Wispelaere UCSIA International Workshop ‘THE FAMILY KALEIDOSCOPE. Evolving Partnerships and Parenting’ March 20 th 2014

Contents UCSIA International Workshop - March 20th 2014 Context Guaranteed maintenance scheme –Answer to a new ‘social risk’? –Should be considered as a social assistance scheme? Conclusion and discussion

Context UCSIA International Workshop - March 20th 2014 Different types of child maintenance schemes; BE: Service for Maintenance Claiming (DAVO/SECAL): –Claim and advance child maintenance in case of non- compliance; –Eligibility: monthly income of the applicant/creditor below a certain threshold (2014: € 1,386 + € 66 per child); –Monthly max. amount of advance: € 175 per child.

A new ‘social risk’? UCSIA International Workshop - March 20th 2014 “Situations in which individuals experience welfare losses and that have arisen as a result of the socioeconomic transformations that have taken place over the past decades and are generally subsumed under the heading of post- industrialisation” (Bonoli, 2006; 2007). Family structures influenced by an increasing percentage of divorces/separations -> new family structures (e.g. single-parent families, …) –Individual impact -> negative consequences involved children; –Social risk = poverty risk? ( components of def. ‘Welfare’ ); –Socioeconomic transformation: new family structures + incapacity to pay child maintenance.

A new ‘social risk’? – some figures UCSIA International Workshop - March 20th 2014 General 4.6% Belgian households are entitled to a maintenance payment (SILC 2009) 13% of these households are confronted with a non-payment (SILC 2009) Single-parent families 4.3% of the EU households are single-parent families (Eurostat – 2012) 57.9% of the EU single-parent families have 1 child (Eurostat – 2012) BE: Almost 4 out of 10 single-parent families are entitled to a maintenance payment (SILC 2009) EU ‘at-risk-of-poverty rate’ of 34.6% for single-parent families (general EU poverty rate: 16.9%) (Eurostat – 2011) Even higher for single-parent families who do not receive a maintenance payment (BE: 42.6% compared to 22.8%) (SILC 2009) Single-parent families with only 1 child show a much lower risk of poverty compared to single-parent families with multiple children (BE: 32.2% for 1 child and 48.6% for 3 or more children) (SILC 2009)

A social assistance scheme? UCSIA International Workshop - March 20th 2014 Public or private responsibility? Specific social and financial needs; DAVO/SECAL: income of applicant/creditor will be taken into account (means-tested); Risk of ‘Moral hazard’ ? Non-take-up? Redistributive and poverty-reducing capacity? Financed by general sources (tax revenues) chance of recovery; Prohibition to claim child maintenance from debtors receiving a guaranteed minimum income (leefloon/revenu d’intégration) or receiving an income equal to or lower than this threshold.

A social assistance scheme? – some figures UCSIA International Workshop - March 20th % of the households with children confronted with a non-payment are entitled to an advance of DAVO/SECAL, since they fall below the income threshold (SILC 2006 and 2009) Take-up: 61% of the entitled households or 69% of the children living in these households (SILC 2006 and 2009 confronted with administrative data from DAVO/SECAL) Non of the entitled households below the poverty threshold are not entitled to an advance (SILC 2006 and 2009 confronted with administrative data from DAVO/SECAL) Lowest income deciles: limited share in contribution while they benefit from the advances Creditor and debtor: fall within lowest income deciles (Tax declarations fiscal year 2009) DAVO/SECAL cannot recover from 37% of the debtors (or 43% of the amount to be recovered) (Tax declarations fiscal year 2009) Only for 5% of the files where an advance is provided, DAVO/SECAL is able to claim all unpaid maintenance (administrative data from DAVO/SECAL)

UCSIA International Workshop - March 20th 2014 Decile of equivalised disposable income Share in tax revenues in % Decile of net taxable income Share in number of persons receiving an advance of DAVO/SECAL in % Redistributive capacity A social assistance scheme? – some figures * Different income deciles are applied to list the share in contribution or in receiving. Also, the share in number of persons receiving an advance of DAVO/SECAL and not the share in the expenses of DAVO/SECAL is provided. Source: Decoster, 2009; Pacolet & De Wispelaere, 2012 based at DAVO/SECAL administrative data

UCSIA International Workshop - March 20th 2014 A social assistance scheme? – some figures Cox proportional hazard model Hazard ratioPr<Chisq Economic status Employee (ref.)1 Benefit recipient Profits Manager Monthly income € or less (ref.)1 € € € 1, < € 1, , € 1, , < € 1, , < € 1, , < € 2, , < € 2, , < € 3, , < € 5,000 or more Initial debt € 500 or less (ref.)1 € 500 – 1, < € 1,000 – 2, < € 2,000 – 3, < € 3,000 – 4, < € 4,000 – 5, < € 5000 or more0.095< Number of creditors 1 creditor (ref.)1 2 creditors creditors0.506< creditors creditors Source: Pacolet & De Wispelaere, 2012 based at DAVO/SECAL administrative data

Conclusion and discussion UCSIA International Workshop - March 20th 2014 Guaranteed maintenance scheme –Answer to a new ‘social risk’? –Should be considered as a social assistance scheme?