A 70-year-old man from Argentina has been ordered to pay his ex-wife a whopping $180,00 because she left her career to raise their children and do the chores during their marriage that lasted for 29 years.
The woman, now 70-years-old, has an economics degree but is now considered too old to get a job.
The Argentina National Appeal Court has ruled that the woman faced a financial hardship after the divorce, and the man had a “good time”.
The couple got married in 1928, but separated in 2009 and officially divorced in 2011.
The story has been reported by Argentinian news outlet Clarin Sociedad, and said that judge Victoria Famá considered how while the man worked, the woman took care of the household. So, this led to determining a payout of 8 million pesos, or about $180,000 to the woman.
USA Today reported that the amount is unprecedented for divorce financial compensation.
According to studies, Argentinian women spend twice as much time caring for their children and doing household chores compared to men, and according to Lucia Mertelotte, the deputy executive director of the Latin American Justice and Gender Team, the verdict of this case is very novel because it acknowledges that what women do in their homes is a job, and it involves time, effort, and skill.
She also added that women in Argentina who bear children face lower employment rates than those who don’t.
The judge’s ruling said that the economic dependence of wives on their husbands is one of the central mechanisms through which women are subordinated to society, and many women still assume the burden of domestic chores and the care of children, even when they perform some external activity.
