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Higher earning women ‘more likely to divorce’ in Italy

Italian women who earn more than their husbands are more likely to divorce, a legal organisation has claimed.

According to the Associazione Avvocati Matrimonialisti Italiani (Association of Italian Matrimonial Lawyers), in as many as 20 per cent of the divorces in the country sparked by personality clashes, the root cause lies in:

“…è l’incapacità dei mariti di accettare che la consorte guadagni di più…” (…the inability of husbands to accept that their spouse earns more).

Higher earning wives are especially prevalent in the more urbanised and industrialised north, the Association notes, sometimes bringing home three times their husband’s salary.

Following divorce , it is no longer unknown for higher earning wives to pay maintenance to their former husbands. Research by the Association suggests that around four per cent of child support paid in Italy now goes to divorced husbands.

As many as 60 per cent of maintenance-paying Italian women are freelancers  and only 15 per cent remain in full time employment. Four out of ten are older than their ex-husbands.

The Association of Italian Matrimonial Lawyers notes:

Negli ultimi tempi le donne hanno sposato uomini più giovani e quindi anche meno inseriti sul piano professionale. È facile che poi siano loro a dover sostenere economicamente i mariti.” (In recent times more women have married men who are younger than themselves and therefore less established in their careers. Predictably therefore it ends up being them who have to support their former husbands).

The blog team at Stowe is a group of writers based across our family law offices who share their advice on the wellbeing and emotional aspects of divorce or separation from personal experience. As well as pieces from our family law solicitors, guest contributors also regularly contribute to share their knowledge.

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Comments(2)

  1. Luke says:

    “(…the inability of husbands to accept that their spouse earns more).”
    .
    That is just politically correct cobblers, it is not the main problem, the truth is women generally don’t like it if men are not financially pulling their weight, they find it unattractive – I believe this is an evolutionary trait, I don’t see it changing.

    • Stitchedup says:

      Absolutely Luke… I know from personal experience. I essentially gave up my career in the interests of the family having been asked by my employer to move abroad again; my post had been relocated as part of a restructure. My ex was in the final year of a degree and my children were 13 and 14 at the time. I discussed things in detail with my ex and it was decided that it would be in the best interests of the family if I take redundancy rather than relocate. The children were at a critical point in their education and my ex was moving up the carer ladder quite nicely… I took a low paid job to get back into work and for the first time in our relationship my ex became the main breadwinner…. It wasn’t long before I was cashed-in like some sort of bad investment… Despite her promises to stand by me if times got tough. Its not men that have the problem it’s women!!! As you say politically correct, man blaming BS..

      I know of a number of men that have had similar experiences, the woman suddenly falls out of love with the man once she becomes the main breadwinner…. It’s a primeval instinct of women to be attracted to stronger more powerful men. Because we now buy our own food rather than hunting it or fighting for it, strength and power is very often measured by women in terms of income, material assets and bank balance rather brute physical strength.

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