ABSTRACT
The Child Support Act 1991 was enacted in order to meet objections raised by many, including the then Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher, to the State being forced to provide maintenance for children through the welfare and social security systems. The perception was that many parents, most commonly fathers, were avoiding their financial responsibility towards their children, and that the existing system for determining and enforcing child maintenance was inadequate. Faced with an ever-increasing social security budget, the Government instructed a somewhat hurried consultative and legislative process culminating, after much controversy, in the CSA 1991.
