An interesting survey of family law cases over the past two years has confirmed what experienced family lawyers have thought for some years, that wives who have their divorces handled by courts in big cities in England are more likely to get a generous settlement than those elsewhere in the country. Judges in the provinces are much more likely to tell wives to “stand on their own feet”, and to live on much smaller sums of money than their sisters in the city. Sadly, well intentioned as the advice may be, it is often unrealistic.
It is interesting too that gender bias seems to persist. There is no indication in the survey that men are treated any differently between the big city centres and the provinces; implicit gender bias seems alive and well.