Over 25,000 children were covered by child maintenance arrangements
Date published:
New official statistics published today by NISRA statisticians in the Department for Communities present Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Service Statistics for the quarter ending September 2025.
Key findings
- There were 950 applications to the Child Maintenance Service in the quarter ending September 2025, an increase of 10 applications from the previous quarter.
- The Child Maintenance Service was managing 18,830 cases at the end of September 2025, a 7% increase compared to September 2024.
- A total of 25,250 children were covered by child maintenance arrangements, with 61% covered through the Direct Pay service.
- Over four fifths (81%) of parents due to pay child maintenance through the Collect & Pay service paid some maintenance during the quarter.
- The proportion of parents who paid over 90% of their child maintenance due increased by two percentage points to 59%.
- The Child Maintenance Service arranged more than £6.6 million in child maintenance through the Direct Pay service. Almost £1.7 million was collected through the Collect & Pay service, of which £1.1 million was collected through enforcement actions.
- Application volumes have remained notably higher than those recorded prior to the launch of the new online service, 'Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance', introduced in September 2024.
About the publication
The full report provides detailed statistics on applications to the Child Maintenance Service, the composition of cases, children covered by arrangements, paying parent characteristics, compliance rates, and child maintenance due and paid. It also includes information on enforcement actions taken to recover unpaid maintenance.
Further information
Read the full report: Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Service Statistics: Data to September 2025
View data tables and background information: Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Service Statistics: Data to September 2025