Marriage and Divorce Decline during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Five States

Abstract

The decline in marriage and divorce was evident prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, but it remains unknown whether these patterns have persisted during the pandemic. The authors compared monthly marriage and divorce counts for two years prior to the pandemic (2018 and 2019) and during the pandemic for the five states that published monthly vital statistics data for 2020 (Arizona, Florida, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Oregon). All five states witnessed initial declines in marriage. Counts of marriages in Arizona and New Hampshire rebounded. In contrast, marriage shortfalls occurred in Florida, Missouri, and Oregon. In the early pandemic months, divorces initially declined in all five states and rebounded in Arizona. In the remaining four states, divorce shortfalls have occurred. As more data become available, it will be important to acknowledge these state variations in response to the pandemic.

Decline in Rate of Divorce and Separation Filings in Denmark in 2020 Compared with Previous Years

“…However, the value of filing rates as an indicator depends partly on the how access to divorce is regulated in a given country. On one hand, Manning and Payne (2020) found evidence of a divorce decline in the United States, a country with a markedly higher crude divorce rate and crude marriage rate than Denmark (Ortiz-Ospina and Roser 2020). On the other hand, Italy has reported a 60 percent increase in separation filings during 2020 compared with 2019 (ANSA 2021), while having a crude marriage rate and a crude divorce rate close to half the size of the Danish rates.…”

“…To evaluate how the divorce filing rate in 2020 compared with previous years’ rates, I follow a similar approach as Manning and Payne (2020) and calculate the percentage change ( P score) between a given month in 2020 and the same month in the four preceding years using the monthly rates for each of the four preceding years:…”

“…Initial data from five U.S. states showed that the divorce count declined in 2020 compared with previous years for four of the five states, simultaneously with a decline in the number of marriages (Manning and Payne 2020). Yet a finalized divorce is the last step of a process that starts with an initial legal filing and may or may not, depending on the legal statutes of given state, also entail some period of mandatory separation before a couple’s divorce can be finalized (Moore 2016; Smith 2009).…”

Patterns of Suicide in the Context of COVID-19: Evidence From Three Australian States

“…For others, relationship difficulties may have been significant and even exacerbated pre-existing difficulties, but couples may have been unable to separate (especially in areas that had protracted lockdowns) which may have artificially masked relationship breakdowns. There is some evidence of a decrease in divorce rates in the US during the early months of the pandemic but in some states initial declines have now rebounded ( 26 ).…”

Covid-19 Maneuver on Socio-economic: Exploitation Using Correlation

“…The Manning & Payne (2021) investigation comparing marriage and divorce before the pandemic and during the pandemic. They calculated the monthly marriage and divorce scale for 2018-2019 and the emergence of Covid-19 in 2020 to date with objectivity in five states in the USA.…”