More than one in eight Britons living with a partner in lockdown are having relationship doubts
Figure rises to one in five among 25-34-year-olds
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.More than one in eight Britons living with a partner in lockdown is experiencing relationship doubts, new research has found.
According to a survey conducted by the charity Relate, this figure rises to one in five (21 per cent) among 25-34-year-olds.
Meanwhile, almost a quarter (23 per cent) of the 2,021 UK adults surveyed who have a partner said the lockdown is putting pressure on their relationship while an additional quarter (27 per cent) said they were finding their partner irritating.
Relate also reported a surge in visits to a self-help article on its website titled “Everything my partner does irritates me”, with traffic to the web page up by a third.
The charity also surveyed parents who are adapting to living with their children in lockdown and found that 34 per cent are finding it hard to create structure by sticking to a routine in their homes.
An additional 24 per cent of parents said their children’s behaviour has become a problem since lockdown was imposed on 23 March.
It wasn’t all bad, though, as 65 per cent of respondents said they felt supported by their partner during this time while 43 per cent of those surveyed said they felt closer to their partner as a result of being home together all the time.
But such feelings did not necessarily translate when it came to sexual intimacy, with just 17 per cent of respondents living with a partner in lockdown saying they are having more sex than usual.
Commenting on the findings, Aidan Jones, chief executive of Relate, said: “We always see a peak in people seeking relationship support after Christmas, when spending unusually long together brings issues to the surface.
“Add to that the current extended period of isolation, worries about job security, finances, how to juggle work with childcare and uncertainty about the future – and it’s clear why we’re expecting a post-lockdown relationship reckoning.”
Jones added that the findings reflect what Relate’s relationships counselors are seeing with clients.
“People coming to us for support are saying that the Covid-19 pandemic and its repercussions are magnifying existing issues.
“Everyone’s trying their best to get through whilst stuck under one roof but that door won’t stay closed forever, which is why we’re urging anyone experiencing issues to get in touch now rather than letting things fester until things get irreparably bad.”
If you want to find out more about seeking support with relationship issues, visit Relate's website here.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments