Close to 30% of couples would have considered breaking up during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a survey of Ifop published in July 2021. A figure which rises to almost 50% among “young” couples. “For many French people, the living conditions imposed by the health crisis – in particular the strong promiscuity or the constant presence of the partner – have indeed accentuated the pre-existing difficulties, making these behind closed doors a real ordeal for their couple to the point of consider breaking up with their spouse”had then detailed François Kraus, director of the pole “Gender, sexualities and sexual health” of Ifop.
And while the hardest part of the pandemic is well and truly over, many couples are permanently marked by the circumstances. In the United States, Laura Silverstein, a social worker, is the co-owner of a practice that is struggling to respond to all the requests from couples. According to her, many couples are stuck in “isolated survival mode“, or relationships based only on the management of household chores. Others no longer know how to have fun, she explains to the New York Timesor forgot how important it was to have interactions with the outside world.
According to Ifop, certain recurring factors explain this desire to break up, and “their impact turns out to be very gendered“. In women, it is the lack of communication which comes first. The men mostly mentioned differences in sexual needs.
These six questions can thus make it possible to check if you are still in shock from the pandemic or if you are no longer on the same wavelength. But don’t put them down anytime : prefer a quiet moment that suits you both, rather than when your partner is falling asleep. Speak in the first person to talk about your feelings, and the more you repeat the experience, the easier communication will be.
Sources:
- Are We Still Monogamous? And 6 Other Questions to Ask Your Partner, The New York TimesJuly 1, 2022
- What was the impact of successive confinements and curfews on French couples?, Ifop, July 2021
Read also:
- Teleworking as a couple, how to manage tensions?
- Couple: can passion last (and is it really necessary?)
- The French still find it difficult to break away from the patriarchal couple
