16/11/2009

68% of parents use children as bargaining tools.

A poll carried out to mark the 20th anniversary of the Children Act has led the authors to state that the Children Act is "not working" despite its good intentions.

The poll of 4,000 parents and children revealed that

* 19% of children said they felt used in the separation

* 38% children never saw their father again once separated

* 50% of parents admitted putting their children through an intrusive court process over access issues and living arrangements

* 49% admitted to deliberately protracting the legal process in order to secure their desired outcome

* 68% confessed to indiscriminately using their children as bargaining tools when they separated

* 20% of separated parents admitted that they actively set out to make their partners experience as unpleasant as possible regardless of the effect this had on their children's feelings.

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