Breadwinner bias in financial remedies on divorce

离婚经济补救措施中养家糊口者的偏见

• 批准号: 2271988
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Warwick
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2271988
• 关键词: Breadwinner; bias; financial; remedies; divorce

This research will provide a feminist critique of the way in which courts divide property on divorce and how their approach reflects and contributes to gender bias in marriage.Research contextThe courts have wide discretion on divorce to divide capital assets and order maintenance payments to achieve a fair outcome. In White v White, the UK's highest court stressed that the courts must not discriminate between breadwinning and homemaking roles, and that assets should be divided equally unless there was a good reason not to. In the case of Miller, the court stressed that marriage is 'a partnership of equals' and that equality means 'an equal start on the road to independent living'. They emphasised that the three most important considerations in achieving a fair outcome are meeting needs, sharing the fruits of the marital partnership and 'compensating' a spouse for financial disadvantage suffered by making a career sacrifice for the family. In recent case law, only lip service has been paid to the principle of non-discrimination and the importance of non-financial contributions. Instead, judges have entrenched principles and practice that tend to favour the breadwinner. This further ingrains the wider societal issue of the undervaluing of reproductive labour, more likely provided by women, and reinforces the traditional family roles used in the dominant neoclassical economic model of the family. The courts' approach also leads to gender bias being reinforced in public perception by distorted press reports of divorce cases characterising wives who are seeking a fair share as 'gold diggers' seeking a 'meal ticket for life'.Research questions1. To what extent and in what ways are the courts biased in favour of breadwinners in their interpretation of fairness and quantification of awards?2. To what extent does any such breadwinner bias reflect and entrench existing gender bias in marriage?3. How can the law of financial remedies on divorce be reformed in order to contribute to the eradication of gender bias in marriage and the enhancement of social justice?MethodologyThis project will entail library-based research, with a close analysis of primary and secondary sources, informed by feminist critique. I will engage in qualitative analysis of the existing caselaw from the jurisdiction of England & Wales to identify themes underpinning departures from equal division. I will critically assess the High Court's use of its discretion as well as the narrative of marriage that is constructed through this jurisprudence. I will then review the academic literature on the gendered nature of marriage and draw on feminist theoretical frameworks to consider the extent to which any breadwinner bias in the case law perpetuates a wider gender bias. I will also examine press coverage of selected high-profile cases to analyse the prevalence of the 'gold digger' and 'meal ticket for life' tropes and the way in which such coverage informs societal perceptions of the way that the courts deal with more everyday cases and appropriate gender roles within marriage. This thesis has both academic and practical significance. By considering the judicial development of principles that structurally entrench male entitlement, and media reporting of the outcomes in such cases, this thesis will address the important and overlooked question of how financial remedies on divorce reflect and influence the gendered nature of marriage. Pressure is now building for legal reform which would further embed breadwinner bias. It is vital both practically and as a matter of principle to reinforce the importance of taking proper account of non-financial contributions to marriage. I seek to reorient the wider debate to include the overlooked question of the impact of financial remedies on divorce on social understandings of the gendered division of labour and privatisation of care in marriage.

这项研究将提供一个女权主义者的批评，在法院分割财产离婚的方式，以及他们的方法如何反映和有助于性别偏见在marriage.Research contextThe法院有广泛的自由裁量权离婚分割资本资产，并下令维持支付，以实现一个公平的结果。在白色诉白色一案中，英国最高法院强调，法院不得对养家糊口和持家的角色加以区别对待，除非有充分的理由不这样做，否则资产应平均分配。在米勒一案中，法院强调婚姻是“平等的伙伴关系”，平等意味着“独立生活道路上的平等起点”。他们强调，实现公平结果的三个最重要的考虑因素是满足需求，分享婚姻伙伴关系的成果，以及“补偿”配偶因为家庭牺牲事业而遭受的经济损失。在最近的判例法中，对不歧视原则和非财政捐助的重要性只是口头上说说而已。相反，法官们根深蒂固的原则和做法往往有利于养家糊口的人。这进一步加深了更广泛的社会问题，即低估更有可能由妇女提供的生殖劳动的价值，并强化了占主导地位的新古典家庭经济模式中使用的传统家庭角色。法院的做法还导致公众观念中的性别偏见得到加强，因为新闻报道歪曲了离婚案件，将寻求公平份额的妻子描述为寻求“终身饭票”的"淘金者“。法院在何种程度上和以何种方式在解释裁决的公平性和量化方面偏向养家糊口的人？2.在多大程度上，任何这种养家糊口的偏见反映和巩固现有的婚姻中的性别偏见？3.如何改革离婚经济补救法，以促进消除婚姻中的性别偏见和加强社会正义？MethodologyThis项目将需要图书馆为基础的研究，与主要和次要来源的密切分析，由女权主义批评通知。我将从英格兰和威尔士的管辖范围内从事现有判例法的定性分析，以确定从平等分割的基础出发的主题。我将批判性地评估高等法院使用其自由裁量权以及通过这一判例构建的婚姻叙事。然后，我将回顾有关婚姻性别化性质的学术文献，并借鉴女权主义理论框架，考虑判例法中任何养家糊口者的偏见在多大程度上延续了更广泛的性别偏见。我还将研究选定的高调案件的新闻报道，以分析“淘金者”和“生活饭票”比喻的流行程度，以及这种报道如何告知社会对法院处理更多日常案件和婚姻中适当性别角色的方式的看法。本论文具有一定的理论意义和现实意义。通过考虑从结构上巩固男性权利的原则的司法发展，以及媒体对此类案件结果的报道，本文将解决离婚经济补救措施如何反映和影响婚姻的性别性质这一重要而被忽视的问题。要求进行法律的改革的压力正在增加，这将进一步加深对养家糊口者的偏见。无论是从实际上还是从原则上来说，都必须强调适当考虑对婚姻的非经济贡献的重要性。我试图重新定位更广泛的辩论，包括被忽视的问题，离婚的经济补救措施对社会理解的性别分工和婚姻中的护理私有化的影响。