If it is all right for a nonearning wife to get maintenance from the husband, then the vice versa is also right. With regards to being unscrupulous, so far, every unscrupulous spouse who is getting maintenance is a woman. Women ask for maintenance even in cases where they are independently earning. This is not to say that all women are so. I personally know two self-respecting women who shunned alimony and are living by themselves. But their percentage is abysmally low. Unscrupulousness is one area where women definitely excel men.