The government has announced plans to make it compulsory for both mums and dads to be named on childrens’ birth certificates.Secretary of state for work James Purnell and children’s secretary Ed Balls revealed the plans in a joint White Paper published today.
The change, which will be implemented in the next session’s Welfare Reform Bill, will put parental responsibility centre stage by giving mothers or fathers a right to insist that the other parent acknowledges their responsibilities to their child by registering on the birth certificate.
There are also plans to make it easier to register the birth of a child, at doctor’s surgeries and community centres for example, plus home visits for those with mobility problems.
The responsibility to register a new baby for unmarried parents currently lies predominantly with the mother. In England and Wales around 7% of births registered each year only have the mother’s name on the birth certificate, which means every year up to 45,000 children do not have their father named. The law change aims to address this by making three changes:
1. Requirement to joint register
Both parents will need to be named on the child’s birth certificate. If either parent wants to solely register, the registrar will explain to them that they have to joint register unless it is “impracticable, impossible or unreasonable to do so”. If not then the registrar will ask the registering parent to come back with information about the other parent in order to continue with the joint registration.
2. Father’s obligation to register
Where the mother wants joint registration, but the father does not, the mother can provide information that allows the registrar to contact the father, who will be obliged to take a paternity test. If he is proven to be the father then the child will be jointly registered.
3. Father’s right to register
The changes will give a father the right to declare his paternity and have his name recorded on the birth certificate. Where the mother does not acknowledge that the father is the father of the child, he will have the right to ask to take a paternity test.
Mr Purnell said: “All children deserve the best start in life. It’s crucial that from the day they are born, both mum and dad recognise the role they play.”
