Risk factors for marriage dissolution: analysis of critical events in a couple life

Over the last twenty years, the intimate sphere and the conjugal behaviour of Italians is radically changed. Undoubtedly, the increase of number both of legal separations and divorces, as well as defining the presence of a new and emerging phenomenon in our national context (precisely, the conflict within the couple and the resulting conjugal instability), can be seen as an indicator of this change. Having said that, the aim of this research is to study the marital breakdown with particular attention to what has happened in Italy from 1990 to 2012. More specifically, the number of legal separations is going to be analyzed through the use of secondary data by Istat - National Institute of Statistics with reference to the duration of marriage, the number and the age of the children at the moment of parents' separation.