Alimony is a payment made from one ex-spouse to another following a divorce. How much you will or will not get out of alimony can be decided in a few ways, but what’s interesting is that gender does not play a role.
While in the past it was typically men who paid alimony, that’s not always the case today. In fact, more and more women are becoming the breadwinners in their households, which means that an increased number of moms and women are paying child support and alimony. According to a survey from 2018, around 45% of attorneys admitted to seeing more mothers paying alimony. Another 54% saw an increase in the number of mothers paying child support.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What it means, in some sense, is that women are leveling the playing field when it comes to their careers. There are more women working in better-paying positions and in the workforce in general.
One attorney claims that it used to be that she would see around one in 100 cases involve a woman paying support. Today, she said it’s closer to two in 10. Yes, men still pay the majority of the time, but that gap is dwindling.
In 2016, 31.4% of single dads with custody of their children received spousal support, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. An average support payment is $329, according to that year’s information.
Overall, it’s smart to know that alimony can be paid by either parent. If you may have to pay or want to know how to receive this support, your attorney can tell you more.