The age of breakup and divorce – are relationships really less stable than they used to be?

Divorce is much less stigmatised today than one or two generations ago. This results in more freedom of choice, especially of women, and it massively reduces the risk for children to grow up in highly conflictual households. At the same time, Europe has seen a rise in divorce and separation over the past decades. 

Date: Tuesday, Nov 19th 2024, 1-2 PM CET 

Register here

The speaker: Dr. Elena Bastianelli is a demographer at Bocconi University who studies family and relationships dynamics – specifically, her research focuses on the socio-economic profiles of the people who split up. 

In this talk, Dr. Bastianelli presents the European story of love, marriage and divorce from the 1950s to today, based on data. The current era, she argues, is characterised by a “democratisation of divorce”, where people of all social classes feel free to leave relationships which are not working. This opens up new possibilities of social dynamics – but is also creates a need for new policies supporting parents and children. 

After the presentation: open audience discussion

"In Touch with Tomorrow" is a talk series by the FutuRes Policy Lab. In each talk, one of our experts gives us the data perspective on a policy relevant demographic trend.