Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T20:18:19.005Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Right to Protection from Poverty of Children of Divorced Couples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2024

Richard Ingleby*
Affiliation:
Law Faculty, University Melbourne
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In this paper I intend to examine ways in which the problem of child poverty might be remedied by legislative reform. The legislative activity taking place at present means that this is a matter of current, as well as social, importance (1). The paper is not intended as an arid academic exercise, but as a contribution to the debate about the future direction of reform in this area. The emphasis of the paper is on the effect of legislative provisions outside the court-room. When more than 90% of divorce disputes are not resolved by judicial adjudication, it is vital to an understanding of the law to examine its out-of-court operation (2). This demands that we consider how the provisions of the Family Law Act are used in negotiations, and the effect of the relationship between parents' rights against each other, and parents' rights against the State. But therefore considering ways in which the interests of children might be protected on divorce, it is necessary to give a brief introduction to the nature of the problem of child poverty and its relationship with matrimonial breakdown.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

References

1. Eekelaar, and Maclean, (1986a) Maintenance after Divorce (Oxford, Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
2. Eekelaar, and Mclean, (1986b) ‘Maintenance for Children - More Facts Behind the Figures136 New Law Journal 838.Google Scholar
3. Freeman, (1983) The Rights and Wrongs of Children (London, Pinter).Google Scholar
4. Howe, (1986) Child Support: A discussion paper on child maintenance (Canberra, A.G.P.S.).Google Scholar
5. Ingleby, (1986) ‘The Clean Break -Allusions to Illustrations anf the Welfare of the ChildJournal of Social Welfare Law 257.Google Scholar
6. Ingleby, (1989) ‘Matrimonial Property Law: The Better Part of Valour?’ in Bradbrook, , Ellinghaus, and Duggan, (eds) Australian Legal Scnolarship - The First 200 Years (forthcoming).Google Scholar
7. Lovering, (1984) Cost of Children in Australia (Melbourne, Institute of Family Studies).Google Scholar
8. McDonald, (ed) (1986) Settling Up: Property and Income Distribution of Divorce in Australia (Melbourne, Prentice-Hall).Google Scholar
McDonald, and Weston, (1986) The Data Base for Child Support Reform (Melbourne, Institute of Family Studies).Google Scholar
9. Maclean, and Eekelaar, (1983) Children and Divorce: Economic Factors (Oxford, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies).Google Scholar
10. Martin, and Roberts, (1984) Women and Employment: A Lifetime Perspective (London, HMSO).Google Scholar
11. Mnookin, (1979) ‘Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: The Case of Divorce88 Yale Law Journal 950.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Weitzman, (1985) The Divorce Revolution: The Unexpected Social and Economic Consequences for Women and Children in America (New York, Free Press).Google Scholar
13. Welfare Rights Unit (1987) Red Tape Volume 1 No. 3.Google Scholar