After Covid-19 lockdowns, marriages have been on the rise. Numbers show that the number of marriages took a dive around the start of the pandemic. Over the past two decades, the number of marriages have stayed around 7 to 8 per 1,000 people a year, according to new data released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. However, by 2020, the marriage rate was down to 5.1 per 1,000 people. According to new data, the number started the climb the next year and by 2022, the number of marriages reached 6.2 and over 2 million in a year. Many may conclude that the rise in marriages is due to rescheduling from the pandemic, but according to Marissa Nelson, a licensed marriage and family therapist, it may be more than that. Couples who were in lockdown together gave them a unique hurdle to overcome, making many couples walk out of the experience with a better understanding of what they need in a life partner.

New Studies also show that divorce rates are on the decline. In 2022, the divorce rate was 2.4 per 1,000 people. Although that isn’t the lowest it has ever been – in 2021, it was 2.3 – it continues a downward trend, according to the data. According to Nelson, the decline in divorce rates could have also resulted from Covid-19 lockdowns. Being stuck at home together during lockdown caused many couples to face problems in their relationships head-on. Changes over the decades could also have helped with divorce rate. Therapy is much more normalized, roles in marriages are more flexible and people are getting used to talking openly about their relationships. Recent studies have revealed that the common statistic on divorces does not apply anymore. “No longer do 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce. As a matter of fact, it is more like 35 percent – 39 percent of all marriages. The divorce rate trend has been sliding downward ever since its 50 percent peak,” the study said. “Interestingly, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which sparked an onslaught of attention-grabbing headlines suggesting that the mandated stay-at-home lockdowns caused marital discord (and Covid-induced divorce) turned out to be largely false. Divorce rates have continued their steady decline even through the end of 2021.”