Socio-economic factors and family size as determinants of marital dissolution in Italy

This is an analysis of marital dissolution in Italy, with a focus on the life events and socioeconomic factors that put individuals at high risk of a marital breakup. The author notes that Italian society still largely conforms to traditional conjugal models and attitudes toward cohabitation and divorce. "Women most exposed to the risk of marital disruption seem to be those who married very young, who have had no more than one child, who are better educated, who have full-time jobs and who reside in large towns in the north-west of Italy. In addition, a woman who cohabits with her partner before marrying him is more likely to separate than a woman entering marriage directly."