The 2020 pandemic warped almost every facet of life and many of us were forced to experience the ripple effects from behind our living room windows. The changes most easy to spot were those that materialized in the biospheres of our own homes. But how did this impact pandemic divorce rates?
When going out for work and fun suddenly became restricted it forced us to turn inward. Those rooms in our homes became our entire universes. Of course, putting our relationships into such small compartments can be troublesome even for the most committed couple.
Did the stay-at-home mandates make you cling to your significant other like a life raft or were you reaching for the eject button? People across the nation may have looked for an escape route from their personal entanglements, but how many followed through on the threat of a pandemic divorce?
The State of Divorce In 2020
The urge to jump ship might have been strong for some, but the problem was that people had a hard time imagining finding a safer harbour. With job anxiety, virus concerns, and the overall state of the world, it was hard to hit the reset button and think that it would be easy to start anew.
Bloomberg examined a study from Bowling Green State University to find that despite gloomy predictions by some, divorce rates had in fact fallen over 2020 according to preliminary numbers. Researchers with the school’s National Center of Family & Marriage Research examined divorce records in five states to come up with projections for the entirety of the United States.
2019 saw around one million divorces across the nation. For 2020, BGSU estimated the expected divorce numbers in a normal year to be a little higher. Yet with the unavoidable effects of the pandemic, that final number looks like it will fall well short. By their count, 2020 will ultimately see around 191,000 fewer pandemic divorce cases.
Florida was the biggest state included in the study. From the start of the pandemic in March through September, the sunshine state’s divorce rates took a 28% plunge when compared to the original projections for the year.
Divorce Documents Flying Off the Shelves
The early estimates on 2020 totals point to a big reduction in separations, but that doesn’t mean partners weren’t toying with the idea.
Divorce doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Lawyers are often needed. At the very least, legal documents are required and those documents (especially online documents) can be tracked. It’s no wonder that the best gauge of pandemic divorce trends can come from companies that sell legal documents on the web.
Legaltemplates.net decided to examine their sales during the pandemic and their findings indicated that love wasn’t winning out. They reported a 34% increase in the sales of their separation agreements across a big stretch of 2020.
Especially heartbreaking perhaps was that the first few weeks of the pandemic and quarantine sparked the most interest in do-it-yourself divorce kits. The company says the incredible jump peaked on April 13th. The one-day spike saw a 57% increase over the activity seen one month earlier on February 13th. April 13th was only a few weeks into the quarantine orders that locked down most states.
Another discouraging find, many newlyweds apparently didn’t get to enjoy a honeymoon phase for very long. The legal aid website found that users married for five months or less exploring a divorce had doubled from April to June when compared to the same span in 2019.
Did New Marriages Offset the Damage?
Wedding and engagement rates may offer some hope for romantics.
Engagement statistics aren’t really monitored, but The Washington Post found some promising indicators on engagement rates during the pandemic. The calls and emails made to popular wedding destinations provided one clue. The Grand Canyon is understandably one of the most popular spots to “kiss the bride” in the world. Grand Canyon Wedding Packages handles the booking for venues along the majestic park and their representatives say that inquiries doubled in 2020.
The Post also talked to the president of Kay Jewelry retail group and she said that in the third quarter of 2020 engagement ring sales were up by double digits when compared to 2019 numbers.
The BGSU study we looked at earlier found that marriage ceremonies took a huge hit at the beginning of the quarantine outbreaks. Researchers estimated there were around 2.2 million marriages across the USA in 2019. They then projected the expected unions in 2020 had the pandemic not waylaid social gatherings and travel. According to their calculations, 2020 will come up 340,000 marriages short of the expected numbers.
Florida again serves as a benchmark for our look at endings and beginnings for couples. Oyster ranked it number two on a list of states hosting the most weddings. They say Florida attracts 12% of destination weddings in the U.S., only behind California in popularity with engaged couples. According to BGSU scholars, by September 2020 Florida had seen 31% fewer ceremonies than would be expected had the year been able to unfold normally. It’s a good reminder that the meaning of normal may be shifting after the final tabulation on 2020.
Strengthening Bonds
Not everyone threw in the towel after the first fight or disagreement during the quarantine. Some took steps to try to strengthen bonds with their significant others.
When people couldn’t take vacations, couldn’t go to restaurants, or hit the gyms, they often took to the streets for solo and partner exercise sessions. Some fresh air was a godsend for some relationships. In fact, the bicycle industry set records in demand for new and used bike parts and even paved the way for long-term bike safety initiatives across the country.
Additionally, many couples took advantage of the extra time by getting a breath of fresh air while walking their city streets.
This unfortunately also lead to an increase in bicycle and pedestrian related accidents. A study found that by August of 2020, city emergency responders in Philadelphia had seen 25% more deadly accidents than over the same period in 2019. Unofficially, 2020 claimed 137 lives in traffic collisions and almost 40% of those victims were pedestrians and bicyclists.
Tying the Knot on 2020
When we get some distance on 2020, we will see that love was never stronger than during the worldwide crisis of the COVID-19 outbreak. Relationships were absolutely necessary to help each other get through the illness, the loss, and the isolation.
Some relationships that went into the quarantine weren’t strong enough to weather the storm of perpetual quality time. Other relationships were forged during the most difficult stretches of 2020 and are hopefully built for the long run.
The hope is that couples find what they need in 2021. Whether that’s the healing power of letting go or moving on, or it’s the joyful act of letting someone into your life with a public (and legally binding) declaration of love.
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