Divorce rates in China have been increasing in the last months. The Chinese city of Xi'an has the most significant record-high number of divorce requests. Divorce appointments have also been reopened at an increasing rate in the capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
According to the Saudi Gazette, since February 24, 2020, more than 300 couples have scheduled divorce appointments. According to the manager of a marriage registry in Dazhou, Sichuan Province of South-Western China Lu Shijun, the divorce rates in the province and the rest of China have soared since the public health crisis. The primary reason for the divorce rates was allegedly caused by couples spending too much time in-home quarantine.
The report claimed that being confined for a prolonged time, married couples have been forced to follow quarantine measures. The registry then revealed that self-isolation has disrupted the values of what constitutes a family home that some couples were compelled to observe social distancing for an entire month.
Members of the public were also said to have resumed their work stations in Xi'an and since then, divorce petitions have also been increasing. Some Chinese bureaus have announced that divorce registrations have bee overflowing that appointments have been booked in full up to March 18, 2020.
According to a psychology professor at the University of Washington Pepper Schwartz, scary times such as the public health crisis have scared couples apart. He also noted that romantic partners have lesser time to develop their communication patterns and intimate relationships due to the imposition of social distancing. Furthermore, he also claimed that couples have started to grow apart after realizing that their significant other has the tendency not to look after them once they grow ill. He then concluded that this aided in couples finding out that they are with the wrong person.
The report also revealed that psychologists have established two social outcomes from imposed self-quarantine during the epidemic. There have been recorded increases in birth rates and divorces in recent months.
According to research conducted by experts from Brigham Young University, Johns Hopkins University, Institute for the Study of Labor, and School of Labor and Human Resources in the Renmin University of China, people who were forced to stay home during natural disasters tend to uptick fertility.
A social and evolutionary psychologist at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health Daniel Kruger said that relationships between disaster and birth rate have been proven in the past. He claimed that couples tend to have babies when they are forced to cohabitate without social distractions. However, divorce rates have increased since January since couples tend to stress out during the pandemic. Their reactions, the report claimed, led to disagreements and an increase in divorce applications in China.
