The more money a woman earns, the less stable her relationship is, points out this very large INED study

COUPLE – The better a woman earns her living, the higher the risk of breakup. According to a study presented this Monday, September 30 by the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED), when a woman contributes more to the joint income than her male partner, she incurs a “ higher risk » separation.

“Couples in which the share of income contributed by the woman is greater than 55% are significantly more unstable than other couples”with a “risk of separation” higher by 11% to 40% compared to couples with equal income, according to this study carried out for the first time in France and published in June in the journal European Journal of Population.

“And the risk of separation increases with the woman’s share of total income” of the couple, she specifies. According to the study carried out from a sample bringing together data from nearly a million heterosexual couples, representative of the French population, between January 2011 and January 2017, this “increased risk” separation is greater among the lowest incomes.

Equal income in 20% of couples

Whatever the status (married, civil partnership or cohabiting), the risk of separation is higher when the woman earns more than her partner. Common-law couples have a higher risk of separation than those married or in a civil partnership. However, some nuances appear.

Among civil partnership couples, the association between income gaps and the risk of separation is less marked. For common-law couples, relatively equal income sharing seems to strengthen the stability of the union. In married couples, stability is greater when the man is the primary financial earner in the household.

Among the couples studied, the most important income remains provided by the man in 49.3% of cases, 20.5% have equal income and in 13.7% the woman is the main contributor. The couple’s income is provided entirely by the woman in two couples out of 100 and by the man in 14.5% of cases.

What explanations for these separations?

Even if ” the risk of separation decreases with age, particularly after 50 “, couples where the woman is the main earner face a higher risk of separation than others, whatever their age. This risk is therefore also present among young couples, from generations who grew up with more egalitarian gender norms than those of previous generations.

The authors conclude that this “clearly indicates that deviating from norms is difficult to accept even in countries like France where female employment is high and supported by family policies”. Another interpretation is proposed: the fact that for women who earn a better living, “ separation could be more possible in the event of marital dissatisfaction, because they have the financial capacity to live without a spouse ».

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