Which policy established the Child Support Agency to ensure absent fathers paid maintenance?

Which policy established the Child Support Agency to ensure absent fathers paid maintenance?

• A. The National Minimum Wage
• B. Sure Start programme
• C. Welfare Reform Act
• D. The Child Support Agency

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is creating a formal system to secure child maintenance from non-resident parents. The policy in question set up a government body—the Child Support Agency—that is responsible for collecting payments from absent fathers and passing them to the parent who has the child. This turns informal arrangements into enforceable obligations, aiming to ensure children receive financial support even after parental separation and to reduce reliance on other welfare means.

The other options refer to different policy aims: the minimum wage concerns pay floors for workers, Sure Start focused on early childhood services, and broader welfare reform changes broader benefits and systems rather than establishing the agency specifically to enforce maintenance.