IN SUNNY south Wales, Hayley is squeezing in a chat on the phone while caring for her five children after school. Her eldest two are 19 and 20; both have special needs and live at home. Their father is an occasional figure in their lives. After the couple separated, Hayley got a large mortgage to buy him out of the marital home and took on debts to pay for therapy for their autistic daughter. For the next 14 years her ex-husband provided no financial support for his children. Hayley is still owed nearly £12,000 ($15,700) in child maintenance.

She is far from alone. Almost £4bn in unpaid child maintenance is owed to around 1m single parents and the government. Now many of those parents are to find out that the years of chasing arrears were…

Read the full article at: https://www.economist.com/britain/2018/07/21/ex-partners-who-shirk-child-maintenance-are-to-get-debt-relief