Fewer differ in the pandemic

The divorces were fewer last year, which may be due to the pandemic. But there is a risk that after the pandemic there will be a setback with more divorces.

– It would not surprise me, says divorce researcher Glenn Sandström.

From the fact that divorces have increased for a few years, fewer couples now seem to want to separate – at least make fewer strokes in the matter.

In 2021, 28,296 couples applied for divorce in the country’s district courts. This is 10.5 percent less than in 2020, when 31,613 couples wanted to divorce.

In the initial stages of the pandemic, many warned that divorces could increase , but with the result in hand, the opposite now turns out.

Interpret carefully

Glenn Sandström, associate professor of history with a focus on demography at Umeå University, researches living habits and believes that statistics should be interpreted with caution.

– We do not know what it is that makes us have this decline now, we have not had time to study it.

Given what is known about what causes divorce, it would have been more reasonable to expect an increase, he points out.

There are a number of factors that increase the risk that couples break up. The strongest influences are violence in the relationship, serious conflicts over money or child rearing, conflicts with relatives, abuse and mental illness.

Recent research from European countries such as Spain , Austria and Germany show that violence in close relationships has increased during the pandemic – so also in Sweden. In Europe, there has also been an increase in mental illness. In addition, alcohol and drug consumption tend to have increased during periods of shutdowns.

Deferred separations

But in Sweden, alcohol consumption has instead decreased. Here, unlike countries that have implemented tougher closures, people also seem to have felt better in general during the pandemic. Depression did not increase, however, mild stress and sleep problems became more common after May 2020, according to surveys conducted by the Swedish Public Health Agency.

– One could imagine that this stress would destabilize relationships so that we had an increased divorce rate, but that did not happen, says Glenn Sandström, but also raises a warning finger that separations, rather than having failed instead, have been postponed.

– I would not be surprised if we will see a post-pandemic rise in divorces, that relationships that have been maintained for various reasons under these exceptional circumstances will end. That is, when things return to more normal conditions, there are a lot of deferred separations that will be realized.

When the external circumstances become more uncertain, People tend to postpone various risks. Divorce is perhaps not least a financial risk but also a psychological strain. People simply sit in the boat and do not make as radical decisions when there are storms in the surroundings, Glenn Sandström explains.

– People have withdrawn to act on a demand for separation due to having experienced it more practically difficult to implement during the pandemic.

Fewer temptations

The big divorce seasons traditionally take place in the autumn after the summer holidays and in the winter after the Christmas holidays. The research’s explanation is partly the increased exposure – that they have been more together – and partly that they may have had time to think about the couple situation during the break from everyday work.

Pandemic have undeniably offered more time together and couples where both worked at home have felt increased exposure. A leaner entertainment life with partially closed taverns, cinemas and other activities has also contributed to us being home more.

But this does not only have to be negative. That is the opinion of the psychologist Allan Linnér, with a whole professional life of couples therapy behind him.

– There are fewer opportunities to be unfaithful, to meet someone – the temptations are fewer. There are simply not as many stimuli that can contribute, he says, but emphasizes that the challenges the pandemic entails for a cohabitation relationship can strike in two directions.

– For some, it means a chance for immersion, rest, recovery, greater community, to be able to value what you have. For others, it may mean that you become even stronger in that the separation is a right decision, but you leave it until further notice, he says and adds that a separation with children involved means a giant step with several different types of consequences.

– This indicates that you are sitting in the boat in the hope of being able to ride out the storm.

Crises affect

In order to better understand what affects the couple dynamics, it is possible to draw parallels to others crises that can lead to duality. An example is a young parent couple who lose their child – an event that tests the relationship on a brutal basis and often leads to separation.

– One reason may be the people’s different ways of dealing with what has happened, says Allan Linnér.

For example, the woman may feel a strong need to remain in grief, while the man on the contrary feels a need to get up and move on.

– Then that difference, in addition to the loss itself, can contribute to the loss becoming more difficult to handle: “How can you talk about going to the cinema, considering …?”.

In a similar way, the direct worry and fear can spread the infection. led to creating tension – if the parties’ ways of dealing with the crisis differ.

– If one becomes more and more anxious and paralyzed, passive, busy, lingering – constantly sitting and checking reports on the infection situation – and the other says “I do not want to see more than one report per day”, then it will a tt color the relationship, says Allan Linnér.