The annoying lockdown habits driving couples apart

Lockdown has been a ‘make or break’ period for many couples as the long-running restrictions and our prolonged confinement to our homes has inevitably led to more arguments. In fact, 30% of couples admit to having rowed more often since lockdown began – with that number rising to almost half (48%) of under 24-year-olds, according to a new survey of 2,000 UK adults in relationships from law firm Slater and Gordon.

Three quarters of couples say their partner’s bad habits are driving them up the wall, and it’s the younger generations – millennials and generation Z – that are finding it harder to get along than their parent’s generation. Almost a third (32%) of under 44-year-olds admit they seriously considered breaking-up with their spouse due to their irritating behaviour during lockdown, compared to only 10% of those over 45.

Slater and Gordon has also seen around a 30% spike in enquiries for its quick and easy digital divorce service post lockdown.

Topping the list of habits driving partners to despair is snoring, with 18% saying it’s a real problem in their relationship, along with their partner not cleaning up after themselves (13%), nagging (12%), leaving lights on (12%) and leaving dishes in the sink (11%).

Spending more time together cooped up indoors has caused couples to grow more irritated with each others’ habits – spending an average of 7.5 hours a day together, compared to 5.5 hours pre-pandemic – and working from home has been a catalyst for arguments for almost half (46%) of couples.

The most common source of conflict for couples irked by their partner’s working-from-home habits were their messy workstations (11%), being distracting to their partner who was trying to work (11%), having loud Zoom or phone calls (10%), making too many calls (9%), followed by arguing over the thermostat temperature (8%) and putting the radio or TV on in the background.

Ros spoke to Georgina Chase, family solicitor at Slater and Gordon:

Photo by Matthew Bennett on Unsplash