>That's why I said the tall alimony is some kind of apology.
>
>With respect, that's sophistry. It's compensation from dad for the reality that mum sacrificed her own opportunities in support of his. Or vice versa.

I said "tall alimony". The courts deciding a seemingly harsh burden upon the other parent.

>And the chances are that he'll earn more, among other things, because in tech jobs, any absence tends to make one obsolete. Going out of work for a few months or years can effectively shut down your career and weld it to a lower level.
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>Precisely. So if mum and dad agreed that mum should sacrifice her opportunities, of course dad should expect to support mum if they split, especially if she takes the kids. It's not an "apology" (why would it be an apology if mum and dad both agreed it would be best), it's just supposed to be fair. If there is acrimony it isn't because society is sexist, it is because two unhappy people are taking one last swing at each other. It IS supposed to be fair.

Now you're talking as if they were equal partners from the outset. In how many cases were they not equal? How many times was there "I'll have this baby, it will save our marriage", or just plain marital rape? We can't know, but we can't deny such things exist out there. So the courts try to make it fair when it comes into their hands, precisely because it probably wasn't so fair to begin with.

In the ideal society, I agree, the parents would have an agreement from day one, and even more, they wouldn't need to sacrifice anyone's career in order to have kids.

>May I also use the "plural of anecdote is not data"?
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>LOL
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>It would be interesting to see the worldwide statistics on their earnings, percentage of managerial positions etc.
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>Those stats always show men earning more. It might be more useful to pick specific professions- say nursing, police work, medicine, secretarial, programming, and compare incomes for people of the same qualification and experience. If that doesn't show a major difference, then you could look at reasons why one gender or another clusters in a particular high- or low-paying job, or why one gender or another has different levels of qualification and experience.

Yes, going deeper into this would be good, at least for the purposes of clarity of our dispute.