Abstract
Child support in England and Wales is predominantly dealt with by the Child Support Act 1991. Many people believe that parents should provide support for their children, that separated parents should continue to provide support, and that single parents are entitled to support for the child from the non-resident parent (usually, but not always, the father). However, the difficult factor is finding a theoretical underpinning for this duty which is believed, by many, to exist. This chapter begins by looking at some of the theories on child support and problems associated with these theories. It then looks at the government policy on child support in order to establish whether the policy is built on any of these theories and, if so, how closely it actually relates to the theory.
