Child maintenance obligations in Malta: a qualitative study of fathers' perceptions and experiences

Child maintenance obligation is an important social policy issue given the benefits of child maintenance for children’s wellbeing as well as the role child maintenance plays in poverty reduction for payees and their children. This qualitative study sought to address the paucity of social science research on the issue in Malta – the home country of the author – by exploring the attitudes and behaviours of separated and divorced fathers in regard to child maintenance payment obligations. The study was underpinned by a critical realist relational perspective which incorporates a constructionist view of reality as being mediated by the interpretation of events experienced. Semi-structured interviews were held with 31 fathers who had undergone personal separation under Maltese law within the last 10 years. Transcripts were analysed using framework analysis which allowed for continuous comparison of themes for two groups of fathers, namely consenting and dissenting payers. Fathers’ stances towards child maintenance payment obligations were shown to be influenced by perceptions of un/fairness relating to three overarching themes: appraisal of the justice system; appraisal of financial contexts; and views on parenting. These findings provided support, to varying degrees, for four main theoretical frameworks: the theory of negotiated commitments; theory on the symbolic meanings of child maintenance monies; equity theory; and social negotiation theory. The concluding chapter reviews the study outcomes in the light of the aims, reflects on the limitations and originality of the thesis, and provides recommendations for future research. Fathers’ call for financial and parenting egalitarianism indicated a preference for new fatherhood ideals and for the re-evaluation of the role of financial provision, clashing with the gendered assumptions underpinning child maintenance obligations and raising important policy implications in regard to the complexity of challenges for policymakers to give primacy to both children and parents’ needs post-separation.