Socio-Economic Factors and Family Size as Determinants of Marital Dissolution in Italy1

Things change: Women’s and men’s marital disruption dynamics in Italy during a time of social transformations, 1970-2003

“…The presence of children seems to consolidate the union (White 1990;De Rose 1992;Hoem and Hoem 1992). Becker, Landes, and Michael (1977), for instance, observe that children are marital-specific capital and consequently should reduce the risk of divorce.…”

“…In these social strata the traditional image of the family was weakening, and the psychological, moral, social, and economic constraints that prevented the dissolution of an unhappy marriage were frailer than in other social groups. In addition the very few micro-level studies available in Italy all point to a women's positive gradient between marital instability and the level of education (De Rose 1992;De Rose and Rosina 1999;Arosio 2006;Vignoli and Ferro 2009;Todesco 2010). Interestingly the effect of education on the risks of dissolution appears much weaker for men (De Rose and Di Cesare 2003).…”

Rising marital disruption in Italy and its correlates

“…The analysis of Italian marital break-ups started to be considered "statistically" interesting about a decade after the application of the law on divorce, approved in 1970 (De Rose 2006). De Rose (1992) herself was among the first to study marital instability, using data from the retrospective "Family Structure and Behaviour Survey" of 1983. She demonstrated that women who entered into marriage younger, with better education and a full-time job, residing in large towns in the north-west of Italy, were most exposed to the risk of marital disruption.…”

“…The presence of children seems to consolidate the union (White 1990;De Rose 1992;Hoem and Hoem 1992;Goode 1993;Tzeng and Mare 1995;Weiss and Willis 1997;Berrington and Diamond 1999;Jalovaara 2001;Coppola and Di Cesare 2008). Becker et al (1977), for instance, observe that children are maritalspecific capital and, consequently, they should reduce the risk of divorce.…”

Repartnering after marital dissolution: Does context play a role?

“…In particular, we assume that the social costs of repartnering decrease, passing from a traditional to a more modern context; with them, the importance of some women's demographic characteristics, which influence these costs, also decrease. Differences between the North and South of Italy, according to the diffusion of behaviours typical of the Second Demographic Transition (Gesano et al 2007;De Rose 1992;Rettaroli 1997), are used to test this hypothesis.…”