"Divorce rates have spiked in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic as couples have been stuck at home for months. The number of people looking for divorces was 34 percent higher from March through June compared to 2019, according to new data collected [by] Legal Templates, a company that provides legal documents. ... The data showed that 31 percent of the couples admitted lockdown has caused irreparable damage to their relationships."
"US divorce rates skyrocket amid COVID-19 pandemic"
"These couples surveyed were married at the time the survey was conducted.
The survey was conducted April 25, 2020.
The survey/poll asked the following question:
How has the COVID-19 lock-down affected your relationship? Get your ex back with Coach Lee's Emergency Breakup Kit!
The following options were provided:
- The lock down has not changed my relationship.
- The lock down has harmed my relationship.
- The lock down has been good for my relationship."
So wait . . . ONLY 31% of people who were on the "My Ex Back" mailing list, and chose to answer a survey from it, said the lockdown had harmed their relationships???!!! I guess most of the rest of them answered "no change" because their breakups happened before COVID. Also, we were only six weeks into the lockdown then. And I can't even begin to ponder the immense statistical implications of the survey's designers not knowing how to spell the main subject of their survey, the lockdown, but misspelling it TWO DIFFERENT WAYS!
And let's pause to flag a flagrant misuse of language in this and many other writings about divorce: The "My Ex Back" survey was not answered by "couples," it was answered by individuals.
"My Ex Back" re-ran the survey in January, 2021, and the results (less than half of which are from the U.S.) seem pretty conclusive: The pandemic had had no effect on the great majority of the respondents' relationships:
"The following are the results of a survey/poll sent to members of our mailing list. These couples surveyed were married as of January 19, 2021. The survey/poll asked the following question: 'Has the lockdown and other changes to life from the COVID-19 pandemic affected your marriage relationship?' The following options were provided:
-
- The lock down has not changed my marriage.
- The lock down has harmed my marriage.
- The lock down has been good for my marriage.
2429 people responded to this survey conducted January 19, 2021 to our email list. Of the 2429 respondents:
-
- 17% answered that the pandemic had been good for their marriage
- 72% answered that the pandemic had not changed their marriage
- 11% answered that the pandemic had harmed their marriage"
The 2021 results get more interesting:
"Women were more likely to say their marriage had improved than men.
Men were more likely to say that their marriage had become worse.
21% of women said that their marriage had improved compared to 14% of men.
15% of men said that their marriage was worse compared to 7% of women."
Respondents were also asked if they were considering divorce as of January 19, 2021. Of the respondents, 19.98% (284) said that they were considering divorce. This number is down 29% from our 2019 survey of 1277 married couples where 357 or 28% responded that they were considering divorce.
Demographics of Respondents:
- 48.7% of respondents were from the United States.
- 21.4% of respondents were from the United Kingdom
- 5.8% of respondents were from India
- 5.2% Canada
- 4.6% Philippines
Sex of Respondents:
- 54% female
- 46% male
Age of Respondents:
- 18-24 years 10.6%
- 25-34 years 23.7%
- 35-44 years 37.5%
- 45-54 years 14.9%
- 55-64 years 9.1%
- 65+ years 4.2%
"It appears that some married couples experienced trauma induced limerence from the uncertainty and fear of the lockdowns of 2020-2021 and that such a spark fueled them to work out their issues and improve their marriage relationship."
Limerence? It's nice to learn a new word, but it's a ridiculously overblown claim.
Limerence is a mental state of profound romantic infatuation, first defined in the 1970s by the psychologist Dorothy Tennov. It is characterised by an initial period of elation and intense emotional arousal that can progress to an involuntary, obsessive craving for another person.
-- From "Living with Limerence" by "Dr. Limerence". Oh. Uh, I can't wait to see what ads I start seeing after visiting Coach Ex-Back and Dr. Limerence. But it fairly matches the straight dictionary definition.