From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Aug. 19, 1975:

According to a recent survey of court records, most of the recently divorced women in Douglas County had not been awarded alimony or child support. Women had been granted money in only one-third of the 326 divorces reviewed by the Journal-World. Alimony had been sought and granted in only six percent of the divorces in the past 12 months; the sum averaged $260 a month. Lump-sum alimony, in the form of a one-time payment or a short series of payments, had been awarded to an additional eight percent. One-third of the divorces in the past year had involved children, and 80 percent of those mothers had asked for and were granted child support. The average monthly payment was $97 per child, but the amounts varied widely, with two mothers granted $10 per child and one who was awarded $333. One woman, contacted by the surveyors, said she had wanted $50 a month for each of her three children but that her husband had convinced the judge that he could only pay $27 each. Another mother said that her $75-per-child payment “barely puts food on the table” and that she was forced to work even though she preferred full-time motherhood, which she referred to as “woman’s true calling in life.”