A fifth of marriages have IMPROVED during lockdown

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One in five of marriages in the UK have benefited from the national lockdown, research has revealed.

A study carried out by the Marriage Foundation found 20 percent of married couples felt their relationship had strengthened while only nine percent said theirs had worsened during the pandemic.

During their research, the national charity analysed data from 2,559 couples who had completed a questionnaire by the University of Essex for the UK Household Longitudinal Survey Coronavirus Study.

They found twice as many marriages had improved during the coronavirus crisis while the proportion of couples considering divorce fell by two thirds from those seen before the pandemic in 2017- 2019.

Harry Benson, the Marriage Foundation's Research Director and one of the report's authors said: 'Our study debunks claims that lockdown is leading to a divorce boom.

'The data strongly suggests the opposite – spending more time with your husband or wife has been beneficial for large numbers of the UK's 12.8 million married couples.

'These findings for UK marriages are further strengthened when set alongside a similar recent analysis of US marriages.

'Analysis of a national survey last week found half of married adults said their appreciation of their partner had increased and commitment had deepened.

Researchers also found that 0.7 percent of married men and 2.2 percent of women were considering divorce - reflecting a decrease by two thirds compared to pre-Covid times.

However research also showed lockdown has 'caused friction in some marriages', with more married men saying they were 'fairly' or 'extremely unhappy'.

Meanwhile 22 percent of cohabiting mothers said their relationship had worsened during the pandemic compared to 7 percent of married mothers.

Mr Benson continued: 'Although stress levels in parental relationships have risen with so much uncertainty about jobs, money, and being unable to go out or socialise, lockdown appears to have affirmed the commitment of married couples.

 'In short many seem to have found spending more time with the partner has been a positive experience.'Sir Paul Coleridge, founder of the Marriage Foundation said: 'Covid has spawned a plethora of inaccurate predictions and a divorce explosion was just one such.

'In fact, as with so many other areas of life under covid, the law of unintended consequences has ruled the day.

'On the whole marriages have blossomed through lockdown, no doubt because of the extra TLC spouses have been able to invest in their relationships freed from the terrible pressures generated by having to spend a lot of the working week at, or travelling to and from work.

'This is all of a piece with earlier Marriage Foundation research which showed clearly that couples who make extra investment in their marriages – eg via occasional date nights – benefit from a more enduring and satisfying relationship.'

'Unexpectedly this new finding has not impacted unmarried couples in the same way.'

'When these relationships have been stress-tested by the covid lockdown the women especially have suffered.'

'No doubt the absence of formal commitment has generated insecurity and ambiguity at a time when the need for complete unambiguous unity was essential.'