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New report from the Observatory for Women's Economic Emancipation

  • Patronage and partnerships

At a time when nearly one in two marriages ends in separation, how can we be satisfied with the fact that 20% of women, and even 34% of women with children, fall into poverty at the time of divorce?

How can we accept that alimony payments - when they are made - are infinitely lower than the amount estimated to meet the child's needs? That compensatory benefits are calculated in a way that puts women at a disadvantage?

Yet it is this unfair system that thrives and perpetuates itself, contributing to the impoverishment of women who choose or undergo separation.

These are the findings of Hélène Gherbi and Lucile Peytavin in the latest report from the Observatoire de l'émancipation économique des femmes, launched by the Fondation des Femmes and Crédit Municipal de Paris.

In "The Cost of Divorce", they describe the many mechanisms that lead to women's economic vulnerability during and after marriage. They reveal alarming figures, affecting millions of women.

They remind us that we can't tackle the issues of precariousness without looking at the effects of relationships, marriage and separation, which, contrary to persistent prejudice, are very costly for women.

The note also proposes concrete measures to reduce these inequalities. For while there is much to be done, there is no shortage of solutions. And they can no longer be ignored in public debate.