60 years after the 1965 law, a fight still in progress

This spring, when Margot, thirty -year -old Parisian, got down with her spouse for the traditional tax return on income, she had an objective: that everyone pays their share according to their own income.

Six months rather, the young woman, an employee in the council, had discovered that the father of her two children, her lover for seven years, now earned much more than her. “We had never really exchanged on our wages, rather out of modesty than by will to hide anything,” says Margot. But I had a little feeling of being betrayed. »»

The tax return was an opportunity to put things to square: “He will pay three -quarters of the amount to be paid since he wins much more,” sums up Margot. Recently, the tax administration has given the choice to the spouses: staying at the so-called “personalized” rate, that is to say to pool income to establish a common tax rate; or choose the “individualized” rate so that everyone pays according to their own income. “The single rate remains financially very advantageous for the easiest spouse – in 78 % of cases, man – and penalizes the least easy spouse”, recalls the deputy Marie -Pierre Rixain, at the origin of an amendment to the 2024 finance law thanks to which the individualized rate will be applied by default in September 2025.

A capitalist logic

A small revolution. And an additional step towards the economic emancipation of women. Sixty years ago, on July 13, 1965, a first law changed the game deeply: that day, the National Assembly voted a reform of matrimonial regimes. The text allows married women to work and open a bank account without the authorization of their husband. At the time, almost one in two French people was already active. On the other hand, barely a quarter has a bank account in its name. They are generally young singles. Like Nicole, 89 years old, now retired in Côte-d’Or: when she passed the Mayor at 25, in 1961, she has already exercised for several years as a teacher … and therefore has a personal account on which her salary is paid. Once the ring on the finger, the signature of her husband becomes essential for any operation. “I was furious! She recalls.

However, the wives did not go down to the street in order to win or regain their banking autonomy. “The law of 1965 appeared reasonable, consistent with the economic situation, recalls the historian Michelle Perrot: with reconstruction and growth, we needed female labor. It is a capitalist logic that served the autonomy of women, the reasons were not feminist. »»

Today, women claim their financial independence, even if it means sowing trouble with their life partner. As when Margot asked her spouse to put their respective income and heritage black on white: “It created a small crisis,” she admits. It must be said that sixty years, it’s short enough to manage to talk about money as equals. Because it had been over a hundred and fifty years since the wife was under the thumb of the husband. Very exactly since the Napoleonic Civil Code, which in 1804 devoted the economic inferiority of the married woman, reduced to the minor state. “The 1965 law introduced a symbolic fracture but it took decades for it to translate into acts,” emphasizes Nicole Prieur, philosopher and psychotherapist, specialist in the family. Money was in the male domain – and evil: a double forbidden to overcome for women. »»

If they used to manage the household budget, it was a purely domestic responsibility. Opening an account, having your own checkbook, spending your money as he pleases, it was all a learning, as evidenced by Elsa Winiwarter, 80, a sculptor in Marseille: “At the time, we received an education from a girl to marry the idea that the husband was going to maintain the family, we lived with our parents until marriage, without financial autonomy. »»

And without financial education. But the thirst for freedom has grown. Michelle Journot, 85, remembers her first bank account very well opened in 1971. Already married and mother, she then worked as a school nurse in Mulhouse then Besançon, far from the family home of Morteau (Doubs). It is for her “pride” to have a checkbook. Enough to decide the driving license alone! When she won a job in her city, the director of the local bank challenges her husband: “Why keep two accounts? You pay costs twice!” “He deleted my personal account and created a joint account, without my opinion, without my signature,” she says. Afterwards, I have never had an account in my name … until my husband’s death. ” It wouldn’t happen anymore. Under the “Rixain” law of December 24, 2021 on economic and professional equality, a bank can no longer refuse a customer the opening of a personal account, on the pretext that it already has a joint account.

And without financial education. But the thirst for freedom has grown. Michelle Journot, 85, remembers her first bank account very well opened in 1971. Already married and mother, she then worked as a school nurse in Mulhouse then Besançon, far from the family home of Morteau (Doubs). It is for her “pride” to have a checkbook.

Enough to decide the driving license alone! When she won a job in her city, the director of the local bank challenges her husband: “Why keep two accounts? You pay for fees twice! “He deleted my personal account and created a joint account, without my opinion, without my signature,” she says. Afterwards, I have never had an account in my name … until my husband’s death. It wouldn’t happen anymore. Under the “Rixain” law of December 24, 2021 on economic and professional equality, a bank can no longer refuse a customer the opening of a personal account, on the pretext that it already has a joint account.

Equality is not equity

Having an account for yourself is obvious for young women today. In their quest for equality, they want to share expenses at 50-50 when they live in two. A scheme applied by more than a third of couples, according to the Vives-Viavoice 2025 barometer “women and money”. But in three quarters of the cases, Monsieur wins more than Madame! Like what equality does not mean equity …

Worse, financial tasks remain gendered: men, equipment expenditure, investments; Women, everyday, for cleaning and children. A distribution that is not trivial in case of separation or widowhood. This is the famous “Yogurt pot theory” by Titiou Lecoq, author of Couple and money : By taking care of everyday consumption expenses rather than investment, women do not build heritage and tend to be becoming a point in. This reality did not escape Lauriane, 39, human resources manager in Paris, when she settled with her companion: “I quickly understood that I did more races than him because I was more often in telework. »»

The couple then decides to open a common account on which everyone pays the same amount for current purchases. “When I told that to my friends, it was as if I said we were going to get married,” said Lauriane. With hindsight, it measures the scope of this decision: “It is the realization of a life choice. But everyone has kept their personal account. A solution far from being systematic: a quarter of women in a couple do not have a bank account to them, according to the vives-viavoice barometer. Walking towards autonomy is long …