Alessandra Petlin for TIME
Debbie Leff Israel is worried about marrying John Kelapire (in the background) because he owes his ex-wife permanent support.
Child support has probably been a matter between a man and a woman since its existence. Men are ordered to pay, women receive maintenance and men become bitter. But as women became more economically powerful, the game changed.
In 2012, a new law went into effect in Massachusetts that eliminated permanent alimony and established a formula for future payments. Some men there paid money for decades to women they were only married to for a short time. While Massachusetts is the frontrunner, several states, particularly Florida, are rethinking the way alimony is awarded.
Should men still have to pay maintenance when women are now educated and can earn (almost) as much as men? What about women who live with another man but still receive maintenance? What do women who pay alimony think? And if we abolish maintenance, how will older women without professional qualifications cope?
In this week's issue of TIME, we take a look at the wave of alimony reform sweeping the U.S. and the surprising people driving this change: women. To do this, we had to interview many divorced couples. As you can imagine, many of them were a little taken aback when they spoke to the country's leading weekly newspaper about their ex-spouses. (Angelina Jolie isn't the only brave person in the news this week!)
Click here to read the full maintenance story, available exclusively to TIME subscribers.
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What do you think? Should permanent maintenance be abolished? Or is this unfair to women who stayed home to raise the children? Feel free to comment below.
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