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Childcare reforms and near misses in Danish tax reform
Ben Hamilton
February 8th, 2018
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This article is more than 6 years old.
Divorced fathers will soon be able to get their hands on a share of the child support, but parents of kids aged over four have DF to thank for getting anything at all
Childcare support can be a contentious issue among divorced couples, as the money is paid to the mother regardless of the custody arrangement.
This means a father with joint custody of his children is dependent on the mother paying up what is rightfully his.
But now the government wants to change this so the payment is divided – a measure that will affect 651,000 married, cohabiting and divorced parents.
More gender equality
Karsten Lauritzen, the tax minister, told Jyllands-Posten that the change is part of plans to introduce more gender equality into the tax rules so that they “reflect current family patterns”.
With Socialdemokratiet backing the bill, it has the necessary majority to get passed by Parliament.
However, there could be a delay, as the change will be part of a proposed bill regarding family law that is not yet close to completion.
DF saves the day
At one point, child support looked set to be heavily reduced under the terms of the government’s tax reform proposal, which was announced on Tuesday.
But during negotiations with support party DF, the government had to withdraw plans to cut child support for under-fours by 25 percent and completely withdraw support for over-fours.
Families receive between 11,000 and 18,000 kroner per child per year depending on the their age.
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