A Ministry of Justice report has revealed that child maintenance matters accounted for most of the cases brought before the nation's four family courts in 2008.

According to the report, of the total of 49,925 cases brought before the family courts, 18,055 - or 36 per cent - were matters related to child maintenance.

This was followed by criminal (10,502), custody (2,888) care and protection (3,788) and domestic violence matters (2,501) which are also handled by the courts in addition to paternity and adoption matters.

The Corporate Area Family Court handled the majority of the cases, some 4,714, while the remaining 13,341 were shared between the Montego Bay (St James), Lucea (Hanover) and Savanna-la-Mar (Westmoreland) family courts.

The vast majority of complainants in the maintenance cases were women seeking orders from the courts for the delinquent fathers of their children to contribute to their offspring's welfare and development.

Yesterday, Children's Advocate Mary Clarke said while she had not seen the report herself, the figures underline the problem of irresponsible parenting. She called on fathers to not only support their children financially, but to play a role in their upbringing as well.

"We need to encourage the men not only to maintain their children, but to father them as well. Fathering has an important role, other than the money," Clarke told the Observer.

She said many Jamaicans were having children without considering the financial and emotional costs involved in raising a child.

"It is irresponsible parenting. Parenting costs money, time, emotions and nurturing. It takes two to tango so the mothers must take responsibility as well," Clarke said.

But while the figures suggest that a significant number of fathers are refusing to support their offspring, founder of male support group Fathers In Action, Lanny Davidson, said several issues have contributed to the high number of child maintenance cases before the courts.

"A lot of men are unemployed, while a lot of them say they are maintaining their children and the women are not telling the truth. There are some fathers who are not maintaining their children because they think they got a 'jacket' while others say they are being denied access to the child," Davidson told the Observer yesterday.

He, however, admitted that some fathers had neglected their parental duties altogether, but said such fathers were in the minority.

"The fathers who stand off and don't do anything are very, very few. It is not the norm," he said.

In the Family Court, a magistrate can order that a father should pay child maintenance at the court offices or hand over the cash to the mothers in special cases. Yesterday Davidson warned fathers to make sure their contributions are properly recorded.

"Don't give cash. Send it through a remittance company to create a paper trail," Davidson advised.