Reasons for Divorces and Relationship Troubles during the Pandemic
Early on in the pandemic legal experts predicted divorces would skyrocket globally because, with shelter-in-place orders, couples would no longer be able to avoid their relationship issues.
What are the top contributing factors for relationship troubles and divorces in 2021?
- Financial distress from the aftermath of losing income
- Working from home office permanently
- Being forced to spend more time with spouse
- Being forced to deal with young kids and teenagers
- Arguments about household responsibilities
- Disagreements about parenting
- Disagreements about political stance and vaccination
- Boredom (less travel and vacation)
Strangely enough, the unexpected happens in several states in the USA
Couples decided to hold off on the Divorce. There were some reported upticks of couples interested in getting divorced, but even so, that interest didn’t result in more divorces.
“As the pandemic continues and vaccines have started to come in, family law attorneys are now busy again. The floodgates have opened, and there are all kinds of reasons folks are deciding to file for Divorce now. Not all pandemic related but delayed due to the pandemic.
The pandemic has shown us whether marriages have a strong foundation or whether the relationship was weak. Some of the clients truly appreciated working from home and spending more time with their spouses and kids, and others realized that they wanted to get back to their offices like during pre-pandemic times.
If marriage was weak, the pandemic magnified those weaknesses, and the 24/7 togetherness resulted in frequent arguments, partially due to the increased stress brought upon us all. For many couples, this has led to excessive attention on their partner’s faults, which magnified the issues, causing divorces after the fact.
According to legal experts, some of the most common sources of relationship troubles and an increase in divorces are financial stress, boredom, disagreements about parenting, and arguing about household responsibilities. The pandemic has undoubtedly added to old problems. Young adult children living back at home certainly did not help the cause either.
Newlyweds also seem to be filing for Divorce, and Southern states seem particularly interested. The interest rate in Divorce in the South was two to three times higher than in the U.S.
Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana have the highest rates of divorces. It’s no coincidence that these were also the states that hit the hardest from COVID-19 related job loss.
Need an Attorney knowledgeable in Divorce proceedings?
If you live in the Atlanta area and need to speak to a Divorce Lawyer, feel free to contact Sean R. Whitworth by either submitting your request for a consultation online or calling us during business hours at 770-815-4500.