In many cases, men separated or divorced from their partners are failing to pay, paying too little, or paying too late for the upbringing of their children, putting a large financial burden on single mothers, according to a BIRN survey.
Katarina Baletic 
“According to the French census of 2020, 76 per cent of children under 18 live mostly with their mother, 12 per cent live alternately with each of their parents [shared physical custody], 12 per cent live mostly with their father,” said Emilie Biland, a professor of sociology at Sciences Po in Paris.
The burden of raising children, which falls mainly on the mother after a divorce, contributes to a fall in her standard of living, Biland told BIRN.
“In the year following a separation, half of the mothers who have physical custody of their child(ren) experience a decline in their standard of living of at least 20 per cent,” she said in a written reply. On average, children also experience a decline in living standards of 15 per cent in the year following the separation or divorce of their parents.
In France, child maintenance orders are not automatic. Parents have to claim them.
“Claiming for child support is an administrative burden for mothers,” said Biland. “Some of them may abandon their claim, either because they find the process too time-consuming and uncertain, or because it risks poisoning relations with the father.”
Because of this, France has one of the lowest rates of child maintenance payments in the EU, according to Biland’s research.
“To avoid non-take up, procedures to get child support should be lightened,” she told BIRN. “For example, it could be calculated as soon as a parent comes to the family benefit office to declare he or she does not live with the other parent.”
Tax rules for child support, as well as rules regarding social benefits, should be reformed, Biland said.
“So far, French parents receiving child support amounts have to pay income tax on them [they can lose some social benefits too], while parents paying for child support will pay fewer amounts of tax income.”
In France, the family support allowance, or ASF, provides financial assistance when one or both parents are not contributing to the cost of a child’s upbringing or when court-ordered child maintenance payments are too low.
In 2023, a quarter of children in single-parent families received the allowance, said Biland, adding that “1.4 million children are beneficiaries of ASF, which is more than the number of children who get child support payments overall”.
“It should be kept in mind that only single parents can receive it: mothers who move in with a new partner are no longer eligible for ASF payments,” Biland added. “Child support payments [from the second parent] do not stop when the parent is repartnering, of course.”
A French mother of two said she sees the state fund as her only hope of child support.
“The father should also have contributed by paying child support, but he didn’t,” the mother said in answers to the BIRN questionnaire. “You have to go through the court, and irresponsible fathers avoid it. We, mothers, are the ones who are penalised. Only the state provides help.”
Yet even a court order is not always enough to ensure that a parent comply with their obligations.
“At the hearing, the Family Court Judge ordered the child support to be paid retroactively, but the other parent still has not paid the retroactive amount, even after two years,” said another French mother, who said she waited a full year between filing her application and appearing before the judge.
*Some names in this article have been changed to protect the anonymity and safety of the individuals involved.
Additional reporting for this article was contributed by Ombeline Duprat in Sarajevo.
This article was produced within the framework of MOST – Media Organisations for Stronger Transnational Journalism, a Journalism Partnership funded by the Creative Europe programme that supports independent media specializing in international reporting.
