5

This article shows that the married life of men and women from the working class has undergone several transformations since the beginning of the 1980s: increased distance to matrimonial life, important reduction of the number of couples comprising a male worker and an inactive woman, as well of marriage among employees. This article also contributes to the analysis of the present diversity of women in the working class through a study of matrimonial unions. It notably highlights the existence of a stratification within different categories of workers and employees: the “top” comprises women with multiple resources, who tend to marry men with higher social positions, and the “bottom”, partners that are both highly precarious. Among them, workers, trade employees, unskilled workers that count fewer and fewer women.