According to a new study conducted among more than a thousand French people, a single cause would be the cause in 60% of cases of separation among couples. But what is this reason for breakup? We explain.
If the separation of couples may be based on multiple causes, some reasons predominate in France. A special reasonin particular, emerges in the majority of cases from breakups of the Hexagon. This is indeed what is indicated a brand new studyconducted by the independent firm Koréis with the help of a committee made up of researchers and professionals, with more than a thousand French people. This research work on the marital relationship was carried out for Coopleo.carea support platform for couples.
The study reveals that The average age of separation among French people is 33 years oldwith a slight difference between the sexes: 31.7 years for women and 33.8 years for men. Furthermore, we learn that 40% of participants experienced a major separation during their life. This includes events such as widowhood, divorce, the breakdown of a civil partnership or the end of a long relationship that involved children or plans to have children.
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What is the main cause of breakups among couples in France?
One of the questions asked to the 1,056 French people who participated in the study concerned the reasons for their separation(s). The reasons given are often varied, but the majority (60%) respondents mention problems in the couple’s intimate life (such as conflicts, sexuality or infidelity), as the primary cause of their breakup. Other factors highlighted by participants include:
- difficulties in managing daily life (41%)
- disagreements over children’s education (26%)
- tensions related to the pace of work (15%)
The study also highlights that 17% of participants consulted a professional, such as a couples therapist, psychologist or sexologist, to try to resolve these difficulties. Among them, 95% noted an improvement in their life as a couple following this support. As for the way in which breakups take place, 65% are amicable, while 23% require a trial and 12% go through mediation.
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Heavy post-separation consequences
Next to 20% of people who have experienced a separation describe this period as being “extremely difficult”giving it a score of 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 represents the greatest difficulty. Moreover, the average score is 6.5, which clearly highlights the pain and emotional burden that a separation represents.
However, in the short term, the consequences are serious:
Note that INSEE already reported in 2018 that divorces lead to a loss of standard of living of 22% for women, compared to only 3% for men, thus revealing a persistent inequality.
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Children, too, are greatly affected
But the consequences of romantic breakups don’t just affect couples: children, when there are any, are also affected. As the study reports, a column signed in November 2023 by more than 500 family health professionals revealed that 380,000 minors were affected each year by the 425,000 separations recordedThese children are twice as likely to repeat a year at school, are half as likely to obtain a secondary school diploma, and their probability of continuing their studies up to bac +5 level drops from 45% to 25%.
Finally, INSEE reported in 2017 that 33.6% of single-parent families lived below the poverty lineand that these families were composed of 82% single mothers with children, illustrating the extent of the precariousness that single mothers face. These statistics therefore highlight the profound and lasting impact of separations, not only on the adults concerned, but also on the children, with psychological, social and economic repercussions.
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Women’s and children’s rights, violence, feminism, gender, discrimination, parenting, education, psychology, health, couples, sexuality, social networks… Joséphine loves to decipher all the social issues that animate our world…