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.

美国律师称，如今美国的离婚案审判发生了重大转变，越来越多的女性付赡养费和子女抚养费给前夫，这是前所未有的。

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 livelihood¹ of their former spouses².

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 noted³ a hike in the number of women paying alimony（赡养费） , 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 hovered⁴ between 46 and 53 percent for decades, he added.

Just as many men grumbled⁵ about（发牢骚，抱怨） 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 gender⁶ 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 equitable⁷ distribution of property," he said.

The 1,600 members of the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers handle separations, prenuptial（婚前的） agreements, custody⁸ battles, property evaluation⁹ and division, the rights of unmarried couples, as well as divorce and child support.