Names of fathers evading alimony payment to be made public in Mongolia

A law has been adopted in Mongolia that envisages the necessity to make public the names of those fathers who evade paying out allowances to their underage children.

The Mongolian National Statistical Department reported Saturday that an average of over 1,000 married couples divorce in the country annually. These are mostly persons aged 25-30. The major part of divorces is registered in cities, for countryside families, linked by common economy, break up seldom.

Statistics say about 90% of Mongolian women have to bring up 1-2 children after a divorce. Last year's figure was the following: 42,416 women had to raise their children alone.

The problem of fathers' paying out alimony is an urgent issue for Mongolia. Justice bodies' officials note that many fathers just can't afford paying alimony because their wages are low (the minimum wage in cities is 24,570 tugriks (~$20) a month). Some fathers evade paying allowances to children moving from region to region, and sometimes even abroad. There is another category of fathers, who make new families and simply don't want to think about their children born from their former wives.

Justice bodies' officials note that no administrative measures taken in regard to "persistent alimony-paying evaders" bring any sensible results. That's why the authorities hope that making public the names of negligent fathers refusing to provide for their children will become a powerful factor of public opinion's influence upon the non-payers.