Two years after the passage of legislation providing for the payment of alimony (or palimony) to men upon the dissolution of a marriage or equivalent relationship, a substantial majority of Jamaicans remain opposed to it.

In the latest Bill Johnson poll, done for The Gleaner, 65 per cent of respondents said they were opposed to the man receiving alimony. Only 30 per cent expressed support for this provision, while five per cent did not express an opinion either way.

An overwhelming 81 per cent of female respondents said they were opposed to men receiving such payments, with only 15 per cent agreeing, and four per cent not offering an opinion. Among the men, 51 per cent said they were not in agreement with men receiving palimony, while 43 per cent said men should. Six per cent of the male respondents did not have an opinion.

In late 2005 the Maintenance Act was amended, making the payment of alimony gender neutral, meaning that either spouse could be ordered to make maintenance payments to the other, depending on the circumstances.

When the bill was introduced in the Senate in September, 2005, Attorney-General A.J. Nicholson, asserted that it was being done, in recognition of the equality of the sexes.

It's a position that was supported at the time by several specialists in the field of gender affairs. Dr. Glenda Simms, speaking with The Gleaner at the time, encouraged members of the society to recognize that times had changed.

Sharon Hay Webster, government backbencher in the House of Representatives, reflecting on the passage of the bill, two years after the fact, told The Gleaner that she was very happy that it had been done. "Despite some tongue-in-cheek comments at the time, we all recognized that it was important, in the context of gender neutrality, to bring the legislation in line with modern thinking and practice, internationally," she said.

Hermionie McKenzie, chairperson of the Jamaica Women's Political Caucus, also gave her support to the legislation, despite the lukewarm response, reflected in the Bill Johnson poll.

This was not a practice that should be considered strange in the 21st century, despite the traditional view that men were the breadwinners while women have tended to think that what they earn is theirs alone, she said.

"I tell women that if they are women of substance that they must think carefully about marriage because they might be required to maintain men and be required to pay alimony or have the matrimonial property divided equally," she added.

Alimony amendment

The 2005 amendment to the law makes provision for such payments to 'single' persons living in common-law situations and those who have cohabited as man and wife for not less than five years, immediately prior to the separation.

Alimony, also called maintenance or spousal support, is based on the principle that both spouses have an obligation to support each other during the marriage or common-law relationship, and that the obligation on a spouse to support the other might continue after the dissolution of the relationship.

Historically, it was the man who was obliged to continue supporting the woman after the breakdown of the marriage, but the practice has evolved to the point where either of the former spouses might be obliged to do so.