According to the U.S. Census, there were 159,000 stay-at-home dads in 2010, a number three times larger than 10 years ago. This number could potentially balloon due to the 2 million fathers working as the primary caregivers at home due to the recession and dads who work less hours to save time for child care.

As this statistic continues to grow, stay-at-home fathers are increasingly more vulnerable to financial risk during a divorce, and unemployed men are at greater risk of being left by their wives, according to Time magazine.

According to the Huffington Post, New York recently addressed this financial unfairness during divorce lawsuits. The state now requires monied spouses to pay for the the non-monied spouse’s attorney and experts during the litigation. However, alimony is another financial risk all over the country for parents who gave up their careers to stay at home with the children. States with no-fault divorces have usually deemed that alimony is no longer compatible.

One father interviewed by the publication said that he stayed home to care for his child with health issues while his wife worked, but after six years as a stay-at-home dad, his wife left without explanation, leaving him with no alimony and only one year of limited child support.

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