Abstract:

Maintenance debts in the Czech Republic are constantly on the rise. Political parties strive to find a way to deal with this issue. Also, the Czech Republic is one of the few European countries with no minimum child maintenance amount. Seven years ago, the Ministry of Justice under the leadership of Minister Kovářová only introduced tables as recommended materials for parents and for courts in their decision-making. At present, these tables are not in use. For this reason, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Michaela Marksová (ČSSD) submitted to the government a draft act on so-called “advance maintenance” which suggests that the government would cover maintenance for a common child to one of the parents, to whom the other parent owes alimony. This draft was rejected by the opposition and even by single mothers. The objective of the present article is to draw the attention to maintenance obligation issues and, based on statistical data, to analyze the actual maintenance obligations of fathers and mothers in the Czech Republic.