Like I get the intent of alimony, but to me it seems quite a bit outdated when most working households have both adults having their own careers.
I don’t think you do. If both people have the same level of income, there’s no alimony. Alimony is meant to allow someone who has been a house spouse for years (decades) to think about divorce, so they are not trapped by finances.
How easy do you think it is to get a job after working part time (or not working) for 20 years? Older with no recent experience is not going to get you any jobs.
Wich is precisely the point of this sham of a law. I think Republicans know that they are decades away from revoking no-fault divorce, but they can erode a woman’s ability to leave an unhappy marriage. This, abortion bans, school choice, it’s all about turning the clock back before women’s lib, ERA, etc.
But we should also have social safety nets in place such that alimony isn’t necessary.
The idea of alimony, though, has morphed over the years from allowing someone to, as you say, consider divorce without being trapped by finances, to replacing a stay-at-home spouse’s potential income had they not been the stay-at-home spouse. That change makes me pretty uncomfortable, especially the government stepping in requiring an ex spouse to pay what the other person might have made.
I don’t think you do. If both people have the same level of income, there’s no alimony. Alimony is meant to allow someone who has been a house spouse for years (decades) to think about divorce, so they are not trapped by finances.
How easy do you think it is to get a job after working part time (or not working) for 20 years? Older with no recent experience is not going to get you any jobs.
Wich is precisely the point of this sham of a law. I think Republicans know that they are decades away from revoking no-fault divorce, but they can erode a woman’s ability to leave an unhappy marriage. This, abortion bans, school choice, it’s all about turning the clock back before women’s lib, ERA, etc.
Alimony shouldn’t exist.
But we should also have social safety nets in place such that alimony isn’t necessary.
The idea of alimony, though, has morphed over the years from allowing someone to, as you say, consider divorce without being trapped by finances, to replacing a stay-at-home spouse’s potential income had they not been the stay-at-home spouse. That change makes me pretty uncomfortable, especially the government stepping in requiring an ex spouse to pay what the other person might have made.
In Germany there is this net. But you still have to pay alimony.