Deadbeat dads are in debt to the tune of nearly $8 million, The Royal Gazette has learned.

And that means that several thousand youngsters could be going without as single parent families struggle to make ends meet.

Yesterday, Magistrates' Court administrator Tracey Kelly confirmed that the Island's six bailiffs were now struggling to keep the $7.9 million backlog of child support payments at bay.

Mr. Kelly added that of the 1,912 cases that the courts have on file, about half are overdue.

And he warned that there was little the courts or administrators could do if some parents simply refuse to pay.

"We have files going all the way back to 1959, although the majority are from the late 80s','' he said. "We have a system of collection that involves a number of things going right.

"But some people are determined not to pay -- we have a small number of cases where people will prefer to go to prison rather than pay.'' Despite the massive uncollected debt, Mr. Kelly pointed out that currently about 70 percent of child support payments were now being paid -- a figure that compares favourably with other jurisdictions.

And he added that a total of $5.9 million was collected last year, an increase of $500,000 on the year before.

"But it's getting to the point where there are more and more cases and that puts pressure on the officers -- some days we're just bursting at the seams.'' Senior Magistrate Will Francis agreed that the debt was " a sizable figure'' but added that, in some cases there was nothing the courts could do.

"The ultimate sanction is prison but that doesn't put money in people's pockets,'' he said.

Last night Social Services Minister Nelson Bascome could not be contacted to discuss the figures.

Shadow Social Services Minister Kim Young argued that the Opposition had budgeted to take on two more bailiffs had it won the Election.

But she said a more responsible attitude by parents, rather than legislation, was central to solving the problem.

"We should look into fathers' rights and make sure that fathers of children born out of wedlock have the same rights as fathers who are married,'' she said. "If they had those rights they would be more likely to want to pay maintenance to make sure their children have a good upbringing.

"A lot of fathers seem to think they have an option to pay maintenance but there are other cases where the mother won't allow the father visitation rights. There needs to be a change in attitude on both sides.'' Coalition for the Protection of Children director Sheelagh Cooper agreed, saying that, if fathers had more parental rights they would have a greater interest in their children's welfare and a more responsible attitude.

She also warned the $8 million deficit was probably just the tip of the iceberg.

"These are just cases that have gone through the system but for some mothers that's a very difficult thing to do,'' she said. "Many fathers feel very alienated from their kids because legislation doesn't give fathers of children born outside wedlock the same parental rights.

"But if we could stop our children having children we would be going a very long way to solving this problem. I am quite certain that a significant portion of these arrears are related to situations where very young girls are having babies with young men.

"We need to make clear to boys from an early age what it means in real terms to father children.'' CHILDREN CLD