Can an American husband just disappear?
A very common conversation that fathers have when one of their daughters get married is to remind her that a husband can go to the store one day and just disappear. It boils down to a warning not to make her husband want to disappear. This is the case in several countries, but it was striking how prevalent this is in Cuba. The government doesn't care because all children are considered wards of the state. Child support works out to less than USD 5 per month and they don't try very hard to even collect that. After children reach adulthood, almost no Latin American country tries to impose alimony. In Bolivia, for example, a divorce only needs a notary and signatures of both parties. The upshot is that wives in Latin American countries are conditioned to "earn their keep".
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