Since shelter-in-place mandates were first set in March 2020, divorce rates across the world have skyrocketed.
Because people are spending more time with their husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, and partners, underlying issues in relationships are coming to light and causing more break-ups than ever before, especially among newlyweds. After being stuck with only each others’ company for extended periods of time, some couples found that love was simply not enough to keep them together.
The rapid spread of Covid sent the majority of the world into lockdown. People were afraid to see their friends and family in person. And while shelter in place orders significantly helped slow the virus spread, they had a detrimental effect on relationships. With emotional outlets like work, the gym, and lunch with friends limited for the last 22 months, conflicts within households surfaced and tensions rose.
According to Stewarts, a leading British law firm in the U.S., there has been a “34% rise in sales of its basic divorce agreement, with newlyweds who’d got married in the previous five months making up 20% of sales.”
“[Couples spending more time together] has, in many cases, acted as a catalyst for break-ups that may already have been on the cards, especially if previous separate routines had served to mask problems,” Carly Kinch, a partner at Stewarts told The BBC for an article written in December 2020. “I don’t think that the reasons that people are divorcing have necessarily changed. You’ve always had the underlying current of ‘I’m unhappy with this or that at home.’ But I think it has just brought the focus on domestic arrangements really into much more sharp focus than they would ordinarily be.”
Many divorcees reported having high expectations for their partners during lockdown. From thinking their partners were going to spend more time with their kids when working from home, to realizing the reason their partner never cleans isn’t because they were too busy, couples all around the world quickly came to understand that it is easier to hide flaws behind a busy schedule.
The problems prolonged amounts of time being “alone-together” brought forth ended two million marriages, meaning a divorce occurs every 13 seconds. However, the impact of divorce spreads beyond the two partners splitting up.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), children of divorce “may lose emotional security,” “have decreased social and psychological maturation,” “lose cognitive and academic stimulation,” “be less physically healthy,” and “be at a higher risk for emotional distress.”
A student at Williston whose parents split when she was six, in 2010, said she wishes her parents never got divorced.
“Every single night and every single day, every wish I would ever make at birthdays or on dandelions or eyelashes I would wish that my parents got back together,” she said. “I still do even though they’re married [to new spouses].”
Her parents’ divorce continues to have a negative impact on her, she said. She was diagnosed with depression and her outlook on love and marriage is forever changed.
“I have trust issues and can’t trust anyone now and I do not believe in love,” she said.