6 ms·

I don't believe gender matters. Alimony (which is called "maintenance" in some states) flows from high-income spouse to lower-income spouse, in order to maintai

I don't believe gender matters. Alimony (which is called "maintenance" in some states) flows from high-income spouse to lower-income spouse, in order to maintain a standard of living. It's possible for a female to pay a male maintenance/alimony.

epx 7y ago
And the half dozen that do pay, make the news.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
m0zg 7y ago
It's certainly possible. The court is just _much_ more likely to require alimony for you if you're female. Same with custody. Where's that gender equality when you need it? https://www.divorcemag.com/articles/percentage-of-men-awarded-spousal-support-increasing https://www.divorcemag.com/articles/percentage-of-men-awarde... Quote: "The [2010] census found that about 12,000 men receive spousal support, and 380,000 women receive it."
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  That's on the order of 1:500 women. That is a ton considering that many of those statistical 500 woman have never divorced and that we live in an age of dual incomes.
- gamblor956 7y ago
  In a nation of 300+ million people and a 50% divorce rate, that statistic speaks more to how few divorcing couples have such an income disparity (or longevity of union) that alimony is even appropriate. And if you think about it: generally when you have income disparity between wealthy spouses, its because the woman gave up her career to raise the kids (or more rarely these days, did not have a career at all).
  - m0zg 7y ago
    "50% divorce rate" is a super-misleading statistic, because some people (vast majority?) never divorce, and there are folks who divorce several times. You can't just take two momentary marriage/divorce rates, divide one by the other and get a sensible statistic. The divorce rate has been dropping like a rock for the past few decades: https://www.insider.com/what-is-the-divorce-rate-2017-2 https://www.insider.com/what-is-the-divorce-rate-2017-2
- kelnos 7y ago
  That statistic can be (and more plausibly is) explained by other factors: * Men still are more often the bread-winner in heterosexual marriages. * Often men and women have comparable income upon divorce, so there wouldn't be any alimony anyway. * Men don't realize they can get it. * Men realize they can get it, but think "that's just for women, right?" and have a masculine pride aversion toward it. ... and so on.
  - m0zg 7y ago
    And this, in your honest opinion, explains 32x the difference in alimony awards? Please.
    - kelnos 7y ago
      Yes, I think it can. There's nothing that stops a man from suing for alimony. Apparently even in places like Nebraska (which I would expect are "traditional" and conservative), men are awarded alimony when they ask for it. And I think that's a big part of it, too: judges will often just award alimony to a woman as a matter of course; men have to ask for it.
gamblor956 7y ago
See Britney Spears and Kevin Whatever.

epx 7y ago

And the half dozen that do pay, make the news.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

m0zg 7y ago

It's certainly possible. The court is just _much_ more likely to require alimony for you if you're female. Same with custody. Where's that gender equality when you need it? https://www.divorcemag.com/articles/percentage-of-men-awarded-spousal-support-increasing https://www.divorcemag.com/articles/percentage-of-men-awarde... Quote: "The [2010] census found that about 12,000 men receive spousal support, and 380,000 women receive it."

dsfyu404ed 7y ago
That's on the order of 1:500 women. That is a ton considering that many of those statistical 500 woman have never divorced and that we live in an age of dual incomes.
gamblor956 7y ago
In a nation of 300+ million people and a 50% divorce rate, that statistic speaks more to how few divorcing couples have such an income disparity (or longevity of union) that alimony is even appropriate. And if you think about it: generally when you have income disparity between wealthy spouses, its because the woman gave up her career to raise the kids (or more rarely these days, did not have a career at all).
- m0zg 7y ago
  "50% divorce rate" is a super-misleading statistic, because some people (vast majority?) never divorce, and there are folks who divorce several times. You can't just take two momentary marriage/divorce rates, divide one by the other and get a sensible statistic. The divorce rate has been dropping like a rock for the past few decades: https://www.insider.com/what-is-the-divorce-rate-2017-2 https://www.insider.com/what-is-the-divorce-rate-2017-2
kelnos 7y ago
That statistic can be (and more plausibly is) explained by other factors: * Men still are more often the bread-winner in heterosexual marriages. * Often men and women have comparable income upon divorce, so there wouldn't be any alimony anyway. * Men don't realize they can get it. * Men realize they can get it, but think "that's just for women, right?" and have a masculine pride aversion toward it. ... and so on.
- m0zg 7y ago
  And this, in your honest opinion, explains 32x the difference in alimony awards? Please.
  - kelnos 7y ago
    Yes, I think it can. There's nothing that stops a man from suing for alimony. Apparently even in places like Nebraska (which I would expect are "traditional" and conservative), men are awarded alimony when they ask for it. And I think that's a big part of it, too: judges will often just award alimony to a woman as a matter of course; men have to ask for it.

gamblor956 7y ago

See Britney Spears and Kevin Whatever.