A SINGLE dad-of-two from Darwen has defended East Lancashire fathers after figures showed parents owe £40million in unpaid child support payments.
The Lancashire Telegraph revealed yesterday that 342 parents have been taken to court over non-payment in just the past six months.
The Child Support Agency (CSA) urged parents in arrears to pay up before they are tracked down by officers.
But Martin Conan-Smith, 46, a former CSA worker and a single dad, said women could be as bad and in some cases worse than men at paying for their children after splitting with partners.
He said: “There are a lot of blokes out there who have to bring up their kids alone but the cases always seem to highlight the ‘poor innocent mums’.
“There are dads out there who are bringing up kids without mums paying what they owe.”
Lorry driver Mr Conan-Smith, of Calder Avenue, said his experience of working at the CSA in 2000 suggested more women than men were in arrears in their child support payments.
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