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<p>Although splitting the support may appear straightforward, the reality is likely
to be quite different. If, under current arrangements, parents cannot agree who should
receive the support, they are just as unlikely to agree about how the payments should
be split where more formal arrangements exist.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Directing
payment of Child Tax Credit to the person mainly responsible for looking after the
children ensures that the money goes to the person most likely to be providing day
to day care. Even where care of the child is shared it is usually the case that there
is one person that bears more of the weight of everyday responsibility for the child
and meets the everyday expenditure.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has
already prioritised investing in early education and child care to support all families,
including those with separated parents, through: extending the free entitlement to
provide 15 hours a week of free early education and child care for all three and four-year-olds,
and to 40% of two-year-olds from lower income families; and providing 70% of child
care costs through the Working Tax Credit and extending this support under Universal
Credit to those working fewer than 16 hours a week.</p><p> </p>
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