Did the Pandemic Keep You From Getting a Divorce? A New Study Says it Did

A couple preparing food in their kitchen

Now more than ever, especially under the stress of the ongoing pandemic, effective co-parenting strategies may be needed more than ever before. A recent study suggests that divorces have decreased over the past year, contrary to what past predictions suggested.

The implication is there are many households currently in crisis, with dissatisfied couples on the verge of divorce, who will need guidance in the coming months as the vaccination effort takes effect and the world emerges from the COVID crisis.

Marriage and divorce rates fell during the pandemic.

According to a new study from Bowling Green State University, divorce rates in each of the five states studied — Arizona, Florida, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon — declined during the pandemic, rebounding in one, Arizona. Marriage rates, too, saw a decline as courthouses, wedding venues, and offices closed for the foreseeable future until the federal and state governments could get a handle on emergency procedures while the virus continued to spread.

The results ran contrary to earlier predictions, which speculated that pandemic-related stressors would create the perfect storm for an onslaught of divorces from couples barely hanging on as it was. Those stressors included stay-at-home orders that kept entire families under one roof, job loss, financial hardship, and of course, illness.

Instead, New Hampshire, one of the states studied, saw a 36 percent drop in divorces. The four remaining states, including Arizona, Florida, Missouri, and Oregon, saw divorce rates drop more than 20 percent. The question is, why?

There may have been extenuating factors that contributed to a decline in divorces during the pandemic.

With limited exceptions, divorces cost money; money people may not have due to the ongoing pandemic. In most cases, it is advisable to hire a lawyer, especially in situations involving complex financial issues and where a couple has children. No matter how careful and cooperative you are, legal services have a cost attached to them, which may have played a role in why people put their divorce on the back burner, at least until the pandemic subsided.

Divorce also comes with logistical costs, as couples go from living under one roof to living under two. Not only do housing costs go up, relocating couples need to furnish two homes, pay for utilities on both, and may have increased commuting costs as they travel from one house to the other for co-parenting reasons. Living on less money with increased expenses during normal times is stressful; taking on those stressors during a pandemic may have caused people to revisit the timing of an impending divorce.

What will happen to divorce rates post-pandemic?

Divorce rates have been declining steadily since 1979 when they hit an all-time high. Marriage rates, too, have seen a steady decline, especially among younger people who are either waiting longer to get married or, based on research from Pew, choosing not to get married at all.

However, these statistics say nothing about marital happiness, meaning for couples who are already married and unhappy, the pandemic likely did little to cure marital woes except to put them in a pressure cooker for a while. Other research has suggested a rise in stress due to the pandemic, putting couples at an increased risk for infidelity, which can include virtual affairs. Stress can also lead to an increase in porn usage, which can likewise trigger marital dissatisfaction.

Although no one can say for sure what will happen when the pandemic and the restrictions that came along with it ends, situations in which there is added stress don’t usually bode well for marriages already in trouble. People are who they are and want what they want, which very well may have been illuminated by COVID. And not for the better but, instead, the worse.

Whether you are thinking about divorce or are ready to get the divorce process started, we are here for you. Give us a call today. 

STAY UP TO DATE

Subscribe to our newsletters

 
Subscribe to one or more of our newsletters, delivering meaningful insight on topics that matter to you and your family.
ebl home subscribe image

FURTHER READING

Latest Blog Posts

Child support is one of the most contentious issues in divorce cases where parties have minor children. Even though Washington state law uses the same complex mathematical formula to determine the amount of child support for each child, there is…

Family law and estate planning often intersect. This is particularly true when contemplating divorce, remarriage, or blending families.

At some point during your divorce case, friends and family members whose own marriages ended in divorce probably told you that it gets better, and it does. Of course, from your perspective, getting out of a bad marriage might be…

Co-parenting over a long distance when you are a non-residential parent does not have to equate to sacrificing involvement in your children’s lives. But it likely does mean you will have to make tweaks in your communication and parenting style to accommodate the new living arrangement.

If you have a significant amount of money saved, you might be considering giving some of it away while you are still alive via what is known in estate planning jargon as a living inheritance. Depending on your desires, you can give your beneficiaries a portion of or all of the inheritance you intend to give them.

Estate planning is commonly associated with preparing for asset distribution and financial management in the event of the estate plan owner’s incapacitation or death. However, an estate plan can protect more than just people and what they have worked so hard during their lifetimes to build. A carefully crafted Washington state estate plan can also protect pets.

Despite being divorced, you may still be able to collect social security benefits through your ex-spouse. Even if you went through a high-conflict divorce or are not on good terms with your ex-spouse currently, they cannot stop you from collecting these benefits if you are eligible. Likewise, your ex-spouse does not need to permit you to apply for social security benefits or have previously completed an application themselves.

If you live in Washington State and have an estranged family member, are you worried about them contesting your will after you die? Well, don’t worry quite yet. There are a variety of criteria an individual must meet to contest a will in the state of Washington.

Depending on your situation, there might also be measures you can take as you revisit your existing estate plan or create a new one to cause them to think twice about doing so. Here is what you need to know about whether an estranged family member can contest a will in Washington state.

When parents go through a divorce, child custody can be one of the hardest issues to deal with. But increasingly in American households, pets are part of the family, and separating can create similar concerns over who gets the family pet.

As a Seattle entrepreneur, you’ve undoubtedly dedicated countless hours and resources to building a successful business. You’ve dotted all of your I’s and crossed all of your T’s. But have you considered what will happen to your business after you're…