This is the story of Inês (fictional name). A woman with a promising career, which she gave up in order to dedicate herself to her family, her children and her home - until one day, she got divorced.
Inês was a successful woman. She had a stable job and a growing career. One day, she met Pedro (fictional name), himself also a successful professional. They fell in love, married and had two children.
With the birth of their first child, family demands increased and the couple decided that Inês would reduce her working hours. Two years later, their second child was born and a different decision was made: Inês gave up her career entirely in order to care for the home and the children, whilst Pedro dedicated himself fully to his work in order to provide for the family.
Fifteen years later, they divorced.
Their children are now teenagers, Pedro has a well-established career and a high income. Inês… Inês is a mother. Only a mother. She no longer has the career she gave up fifteen years earlier, and she does not own a home.
Devastated, she asks herself: “What now? Where am I going to live? How am I going to pay the bills?”
Although there is now increasing recognition of the more active role played by men in family life and domestic tasks, the truth is that women continue to assume the majority of domestic work and childcare responsibilities.
I refer to the invisible labour of everyday life: filling the cupboards and the fridge, preparing meals, keeping the house organised, washing and ironing clothes, accompanying children and managing family routines. Constant work, often silent and unpaid, which easily becomes a second full-time job.
When children arrive, the demands increase and many couples ultimately make what appears to be a practical decision: the person earning more devotes themselves more intensively to paid work; the person assuming greater presence at home devotes themselves to managing family life. In most cases, it is still women who give up their professional lives.
The impact of that decision is significant. According to data from the Council of Europe, approximately 91% of individuals who abandon or suspend their careers in order to care for their families are women.
Furthermore, data from the International Labour Organization indicate that 21.7% of women devote themselves full-time to unpaid domestic and family care work, whereas only 1.5% of men are in the same position.
In Portugal, a study published in 2022 by the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality concluded that the economic value of unpaid domestic and care work may amount to approximately 40 billion euros per year - corresponding to between 15.6% and 26.6% of national GDP.
In other words, this is work that remains socially invisible, yet economically essential.
When a couple marries, they do so with the intention of building a shared life together. However, when divorce occurs, every decision taken throughout that shared life begins to carry consequences.
It was precisely with situations such as Inês’s in mind that the Portuguese legislator established that, in the event of divorce, the spouse who contributed significantly more towards the burdens of family life - namely through domestic work or childcare, whilst renouncing the pursuit of their professional career for the benefit of family life - may, in certain circumstances, be entitled to financial compensation.
Such compensation may be agreed between the spouses or, in the absence of agreement, claimed before the court where it has not previously been regulated, for example, through a prenuptial agreement.
This compensation seeks to recognise the contribution made throughout the marriage and to reduce the impact that dedication to family life may have had upon the professional career of the spouse who assumed that role.
In addition, the law grants special protection to the family home. Even where the property belongs exclusively to one spouse, the right to use the family home may be granted to the other following divorce, taking into account the needs of each spouse and the best interests of the children.
The decisions taken within a marriage - such as the choice of matrimonial property regime, the designation of the family home or the decision to give up a career in order to care for the family - all carry real legal consequences.
But when the shared project comes to an end and the couple divorces, the consequences extend far beyond a broken heart.
Many of these situations can be prevented through a prenuptial agreement. Planning does not mean anticipating divorce; it means recognising that the choices made during marriage may affect the future and that it is possible consciously to establish rules capable of protecting both parties.
On a day marking International Women’s Day, it is important to recognise the contribution of all those women who, often silently, continue to carry out a significant part of the work that sustains family life. Work that may not always be visible, but which is absolutely essential.
