by Nicolò Guelfi
If it is true that the first cause of divorce is marriage, today it seems an almost inevitable consequence. Divorces and separations have never been as high as they are in our country right now. According to data collected by the site Incontri-ExtraConiugali.com, today in Italy for every 100 marriages there are 48 divorces. They were 2.9 out of 100 in 1975 and 20 out of 100 in 2007. The data is clear and confirms an increasingly evident trend over the years.
The first Monday of January it became ironically world famous as “divorce monday”, which is the day of the year when the greatest number of couples reaches the breaking point and makes the decision to separate. In Italy in 2018 990 thousand women and 681 thousand men were divorced, against an annual average in the 1970s that was around 20 thousand people. Another aspect that concerns our country is that we get married less and less: according to Istat, compared to 1963, a record year for weddings celebrated in Italy (420 thousand), 196 thousand were celebrated in 2018, less than half. Furthermore, more and more people find themselves resorting to separation after the fateful “yes”. Today, according to the dating site’s estimates, there are 48 divorces for every 100 marriages. One in two marriages ends in separation.
The Divorce law was introduced in Italy on 1 December 1970. Five years later, 3 out of every 100 married people were divorced. In 2007, those who had resorted to the dissolution of the marriage were already one fifth of the spouses. Over the past 15 years, the percentage has more than doubled. The trend suffered a slight setback in 2019, and then escalate enormously with the pandemic. It is not difficult to believe, considering the periods of lockdown with forced coexistence, the economic difficulties and the psychological and emotional repercussions. The health emergency has been a difficult test for many couples.
Alex Fantini, creator of the dating site for married people, claims that adultery can have a beneficial effect on the relationship and that about 58% of couples, by doing so, managed to stay together. “This January 2022 will also be the golden month of marital infidelity – continues Fantini – and many couples will be able to find help to be able to save their relationship. For many, in fact, the escapade is alone a relief valve which often makes it possible to save a marriage in crisis, but not all couples can be saved “. Until a few years ago the institute was a contract with no expiry date, with the classic religious formula “until death do you part”. Today marriages last an average of 17 years. “But it is also true that 12% of separations occur within the first 5 years of living together”, Fratini always adds.
It is evident how that on divorce is a stigma that gradually fades over the years, as a result of a process of secularization of society. Law 898, which introduced the possibility of ending the bond between husband and wife in family law, was widely criticized, to the point of bringing citizens to the polls for the first time to confirm or repeal what was decided by politics: it was 12 May 1974. In this regard, the words of Nino Manfredi, beloved actor, who in a famous commercial for “No” (contrary to the repeal of the law) explained, not without irony, the reasons behind the divorce: