BRITAIN is suffering “shameful and growing” levels of child poverty but single parent families are suffering most, new research has shown.

Gingerbread, the charity for single parents, blames the government’s Child Maintenance Service (CMS) which it says is letting single parent families down badly and is in desperate need of reform.

The Gingerbread report, which is supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, reveals that a record 30 per cent of children in Britain now live in poverty.

But children with a single parent are almost twice as likely to live in poverty than those in two parent households – 44 per cent compared to 26 per cent.

The cause, the report states, is failure to pay child maintenance — which the CMS is meant to enforce.

The report states that despite having powers such as ordering child maintenance to be paid directly from an employee’s wages or bank account, the CMS is “slow to act and use these powers, failing children in the process.”

It said the failings of the CMS also put single parents at risk of continued financial and domestic abuse and coercive control by ex-partners. 

Gingerbread head of policy Sarah Lambert said: “Our government has made a clear commitment to tackle child poverty but unless it pays due attention to the role of the Child Maintenance Service it will fail to do so.

“There is clear evidence that when child maintenance is paid it protects children from poverty. It’s shameful that the government service which exists to ensure children are financially supported by both parents is letting them down so badly.”

Abby Jitendra, Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s principal policy adviser for care, family and relationships, said: “In light of these failings, the government needs to go bold and see reforms to child maintenance as another tool in its fight against child poverty.”

The report calls for an increase in enforcement of maintenance payments, closure of loopholes to avoid payment, transformation in training for CMS staff in domestic abuse, and dedicated, named caseworkers so that single parents don’t have to keep retelling their story.

A Government spokesperson said: “No child should be in poverty – that’s why we uprated benefits, extended the Household Support Fund and our Ministerial Taskforce is developing an ambitious strategy to tackle child poverty to give every child the best start in life.

“We extended our consultation on the Child Maintenance Service and are examining the responses about how it can be improved.”