Thousands of women in unhappy marriages are choosing not to divorce, a study has found.

With diminishing chances of winning a bumper share of a husband’s wealth, many wives now prefer to try to rebuild their marriage rather than risk a break-up.

And fast-rising numbers of successful professional and business women are increasingly reluctant to hand over any of their earnings or assets in the wake of a divorce from a less well-off husband, the study found.

Lawyers say the shift has been prompted by both the growing success of women in careers and a switch in the attitudes of judges. During the 2000s, divorce courts handed out a string of generous ‘meal ticket for life’ settlements to wives.

With diminishing chances of winning a bumper share of a husband’s wealth, many wives now prefer to try to rebuild their marriage rather than risk a break-up

But now judges are more likely than they were to favour husbands, with the wife’s share of a typical divorce settlement suffering accordingly.

A report from the Hall Brown Family Law firm pointed to figures from the Office for National Statistics which show a collapse in the number of wives who are taking the first move in divorce and petitioning to end their marriages.

In 2006 the first move in the legal process of divorce was made in England and Wales by 90,375 wives. In 2016 this had fallen to 65,290 divorce petitions from wives, a drop of just under 28 per cent.

However in 2016 there were more divorce petitions from husbands than there were in 2006 – 41,669 against 41,638. This means the proportion of divorces initiated by women fell from 68 per cent in 2006 to 61 per cent a decade later.

Over 23 years between 1993 – the year divorce reached a peak of 165,018 – and 2016, the number of wives petitioning for divorce dropped by 45 per cent, while petitions from husbands declined by only 10 per cent.

Hall Brown senior partner Sam Hall said: ‘Little over a decade ago, a string of generous settlements awarded in wives’ favour did much to cement London’s position as the world’s divorce capital. In the years since, though, there has been something of a reset in determining what is fair when it comes to dividing a couple’s joint assets.

‘Courts are more keen than ever to ensure a clean break upon divorce wherever possible but, if maintenance is awarded, it isn’t unusual to find that it is provided for a limited period of time.

‘A substantial number of wives actively considering divorce have told us that this new reality has made them more willing to try to overcome issues within their marriages rather than filing to end them.’

Fast-rising numbers of successful professional and business women are increasingly reluctant to hand over any of their earnings or assets in the wake of a divorce from a less well-off husband, the study found

Mr Hall said the rise of ‘breadwinner wives’ has also contributed to the reluctance of women to divorce.

‘Those confronted with the prospect of giving up a share of their wealth to husbands say they now realise the financial consequences of calling time on the marriage.’

In 2009, influential family lawyer Baroness Deech called for an end to the ‘meal ticket for life’ and proposed that divorcees should get maintenance payments only for a limited period – an idea now often applied by family judges.