美離婚“女養男”呈上升趨勢

Tables have turned in US divorce courts with More women paying their former husbands alimony and child support than ever before, according to US lawyers.

As women climb higher up the career ladder and outpace their exes in salary, when love goes wrong and marriages break up they are being compelled to contribute to the livelihood of their former spouses.

And some are not happy about it.

More than half, 56 percent, of divorce lawyers across the United States have seen an increase in mothers paying child support in the last three years and 47 percent have noted a hike in the number of women paying alimony, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

"It shows that women have really moved up financially and that in many instances they are the major bread winners in a lot of families," said Alton Abramowitz, the president-elect of the academy.

"The glass ceiling has been pierced and more and more women have taken over the financial responsibilities and have been saddled with them as well. It is a fact of the way our society has evolved over the last number of years."

Although women have made strides professionally, the divorce rate in the United States has remained fairly constant. About half of marriages in the United States end in divorce. The rate has hovered between 46 and 53 percent for decades, he added.

Just as many men grumbled about paying alimony to their former wives, women are not pleased with the turnaround.

"We see women who are every bit as angry as their male counterparts, maybe more so, when they are confronted with the concept of paying spousal support to a man," said Abramowitz.

The gender switch in alimony payments is just one of many changes he has seen during his four decades as a lawyer.

"When I started practicing in 1973 there was no equitable distribution of property," he said.

The 1,600 members of the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers handle separations, prenuptial agreements, custody battles, property evaluation and division, the rights of unmarried couples, as well as divorce and child support.美國律師稱，如今美國的離婚案審判發生了重大轉變，越來越多的女性付贍養費和子女撫養費給前夫，這是前所未有的。

現在女性們在職場上步步高昇，薪水逐漸趕超伴侶，當她們的愛情出了問題，婚姻破裂，她們只好被迫付生活費給前夫。

但有些女性並不樂意這麼做。

據美國婚姻律師學會稱，全美超過半數（56%）的離婚律師發現，支付子女撫養費的母親在過去三年增多了，47%的人指出支付生活費給前夫的女性人數也增加了。

該學會的主席當選人埃爾頓•阿布拉莫維茨說：“這表明女性確實在經濟上有所改善，很多情況下她們是家中的主要經濟支柱。”

“玻璃天花板正在被穿透，越來越多的女性負起了賺錢養家的責任，接過了經濟重擔。這是過去數年內我們社會發展方式的真實變化。”

儘管女性在職場上有了很大進展，但是美國離婚率依然相當穩定。美國約半數的婚姻以離婚告終。他補充說，幾十年來，美國離婚率一直徘徊在46%到53%之間。

許多男性因爲要給前妻付贍養費而抱怨，女性也不喜歡這種局面逆轉過來。

阿布拉莫維茨說：“我們發現女性和需要付贍養費的離婚男性一樣惱火，或許當她們想到是給一個男人付配偶贍養費的時候，會感到更爲惱火。”

贍養費支付上的性別扭轉只是他幹律師這一行40年來所見到的許多變化之一。

他說：“當我1973年開始做律師時，並不存在公平的財產分配。”

美國婚姻律師學會的1600名會員處理離婚、子女撫養、分居、婚前協議、監護權爭奪、財產評估和分割、未婚同居夫婦權利等案件。