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From a South African perspective, there has been a 20 percent increase in divorce applications since level 4.
The national lockdown has put a strain on our everyday lives. When it comes to relationships, even more so.
After reading copious amounts of articles and data, many couples admit the global pandemic has forced them to re-evaluate their relationships, often choosing to separate for whatever reason.
According to the latest stats, divorces in China significantly increased since lockdown. Saudi Arabia also reported seeing a 30 percent increase in divorces over lockdown.
South Africa ranked 83rd out of 154 countries for divorce. This vital information was cause for concern for local law firm DIY Legal. So, what they did was take a closer look at the statistics to see what they could understand about what is happening with South African divorces.
Two out of three of recent divorces in China said stress of the Covid-19 virus and or quarantine had contributed to the breakdown of their marriage. They went further and said there was little split in housework and money stress contributed to marital stress.
According to the stats, most people in South Africa have multiple reasons for divorce, but most of them aren’t specifically referencing the pandemic. The most popular single reason, cited by 16 percent of respondents, is: "There is no love, respect or affection between the parties."
From a South African perspective there has been a 20 percent increase in divorce applications since level 4. During lockdown level 5 there was an increase in interest, but it wasn’t possible to progress divorces, so the majority waited until they weren’t locked down to proceed with their divorce.
As far as international trends go, South Africa seems to be in line with the curve. But the reason for marriage splits remains to be seen.
