Enforcing the Law on Child Maintenance in Sub-Saharan Africa: a Case Study of Ghana

Laird, Siobhan E.

doi:10.1093/lawfam/ebr005

Cited by 15 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…For example, Meyer et al (2015) found that in the United States, nonresident parents with lower incomes have higher likelihood of paying lower maintenance or even defaulting payments. A similar pattern is observed in Ghana where families with financial challenges often have problems making financial contributions toward the child’s upbringing (Laird, 2011). Regardless of the financial challenges, nonresident parents who are able to have frequent contact with their child can help reduce hardships (Nepomnyaschy & Garfinkel, 2011).…”

supporting

confidence: 64%

“…In Ghana, where poverty appears to be the major problem for families in contact with social services (Manful & Cudjoe, 2018), social workers at the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) facilitate the modalities for the maintenance payments to the resident parent. However, formal interventions from social workers have not been very effective in ensuring compliance from defaulters (Laird, 2011). This can have devastating consequences on the well-being of children as delinquent child maintenance (DCM) is one of the causes of child neglect (Abdullah et al, 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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When Parents Fail: Addressing Delinquent Child Maintenance Through Informal Resources

Manful

Abdullah

Cudjoe

2020

Research on Social Work Practice

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The success rate using formal mechanisms by Ghanaian social workers to ensure the best outcomes for the child when there is default in child maintenance payments is low; hence the need to explore other strategies. The objective of this research was to explore informal support resources that could be helpful to families involved with social services on delinquent child maintenance (DCM). Guided by a practice research approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 parents involved with a regional-level social service organization in Ghana. Their narratives were analyzed thematically using the NVivo software. Findings revealed that DCM is a problem for both sexes. Parents reported information, financial, and material support from relatives and neighbors to be relevant resources in addressing the problem. The study’s findings suggest the need for social workers to focus on informal support when addressing DCM and emphasize parental roles as situation-based not gender-based.

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supporting

confidence: 64%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

When Parents Fail: Addressing Delinquent Child Maintenance Through Informal Resources

Manful

Abdullah

Cudjoe

2020

Research on Social Work Practice

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“…The Act established that fathers and their successors were legally responsible for providing fixed child support. However, social welfare workers found it tough enforcing child support because of the difficulty in accessing incomes of informal sector workers (Laird, 2011). The Maintenance of Children Decree (1977) was therefore passed to replace Act 297.…”

Section: "The Most Frequent Caller At the Local Offices Of The Departmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Welfare in Ghana: The Past, Present and Future

Frimpong‐Manso¹

2014

JESR

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“…Social services support for families in Ghana are limited to counselling services and in the rare events support for legal redress, and these are mostly accessible to those living in urban areas. For example, in cases where parents are divorced or separated, usually children stay with their mothers after a separation, the father is expected to transfer some amounts of money to the mother for the child's upkeep (Laird, ). This is overseen by social workers at the department to make sure that fathers keep up with the payments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is overseen by social workers at the department to make sure that fathers keep up with the payments. However, if the father defaults or is unwilling to honour the arrangements legal redress is sought through the Family Tribunal to enforce the child maintenance order (Laird, ). Failure to comply with the decision made by the Family Tribunal is a criminal offence enshrined in Ghana's Children's Act 1998 (Act 560; s.48; Laird, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is kinship failing? Views on informal support by families in contact with social services in Ghana

Manful

Cudjoe

2018

Child & Family Social Work

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Traditionally, Ghanaian families facing difficulties address their problems by engaging kin, with the State being the last point of call. However, in recent times, more families facing difficulties are contacting social services to seek redress. So what contribution are kin and other informal social support networks providing to the care and safety of children of such families? This paper presents findings from 15 families receiving services from the Department of Social Welfare in Sekondi, Ghana. Through semistructured in‐depth interviews, the families shared their views on the roles played by their kin and informal social networks in contributing to the care of their children. The study findings suggest that kin still plays a vital role in the support of parenting through imbibing of norms and values; whereas the provision of casual support is provided by nonkin in one's social support network on the basis of reciprocity. Therefore, it was concluded that in developing social welfare policies to ensure better outcomes for children in Ghana attention also has to be placed on the supportive role of the community for families in danger of disruption as there is likely to be limited familial safety net for support in child care.

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Enforcing the Law on Child Maintenance in Sub-Saharan Africa: a Case Study of Ghana

Cited by 15 publications

References 10 publications

When Parents Fail: Addressing Delinquent Child Maintenance Through Informal Resources

When Parents Fail: Addressing Delinquent Child Maintenance Through Informal Resources

Child Welfare in Ghana: The Past, Present and Future

Is kinship failing? Views on informal support by families in contact with social services in Ghana

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