Fathers4Justice announce Child Support Strike with release of ‘Pay As You Go’ single by Rapman
Fathers4Justice today announced the launch of a Child Support Strike with the release of the single, ‘Pay As You Go’, by hip-hop artist Rapman, featuring his 10-year-old-son, Micai, who stars in the video. The track details Rapman’s battle to see his son – and his calling Fathers4Justice – after the mother denied him access because he didn’t have any money to pay her at the time.
The strike, which begins on Father’s Day, Sunday 19th June 2016, comes after the group asked their 70,000+ supporters on social media, and 55,000 registered supporters, whether dads should stop paying child support until they have equal rights. The answer was a resounding yes, with over 75% support for a child support strike. The group say the most strident support came from the partners of dads affected by the system.
Fathers4Justice are now calling on fathers denied access to their children, to withhold child support payments as part of an economic boycott of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), which they say is cruel and discriminatory, and has reduced dads to the status of cashpoints and sperm banks.
The group have asked supporters to stop all child maintenance payments, averaging £300 per father per month, for at least one month, which could deprive the CMS of £15 million in June/July alone.
Said Fathers4Justice founder Matt O’Connor, “Child support is a tax on fatherhood, supports a discriminatory anti-father system, and subsidises the removal of fathers from families. It has nothing to do with supporting children, when 4 million of those same children now live in fatherless homes. Under this government you can abandon your children tomorrow, provided you pay.”
“The Child Maintenance Service has turned dads into cashpoints and ruthlessly pursued many to their deaths. It’s time for an economic boycott of this cruel and discriminatory system and for the state to stop using dads as whipping boys for dysfunctional government policy. Child support must mean emotional and financial support.”
“Until we have equal parenting and child support rights, we will step up our new campaign of civil disobedience and non-compliance with the state.”
Rapman said, “I wrote ‘Pay As You Go’ because 5 years ago the mother of my child refused to let me see my child because I didn’t have any cash at the time. I was left in a very dark place as I was severely missing my son. It was a point in my life I would never forget and so many of my friends are still going through it now, so I decided to address it with the song ‘Pay As You Go’.”
“I created this song to help raise awareness on how little powers the fathers have compared to the mother even though the child is just as much the fathers as the mother. I was hoping this song would make mothers see how this behavior effects the child and lead them to think twice about the choices they make, hence why I directed the video from the child’s perspective.”
“It’s not right for men who wanna be active fathers to be treated like a sperm donor, and a cash machine. So I wrote this song as an anthem for all good fathers who are being denied the right to see their children.”
Rapman is 29 years old and his son, Micai, is 10.
Buy “Pay As You Go” from iTunes: Track 3 / Tuesday Payg (Pay As You Go) https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/seven-days/id1090007044
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