After the Covid-19 lockdowns, new data shows that 2022 was a year marked by marriages.
The number of marriages took a dive around the start of the pandemic, according to numbers. For the past two decades, the number of marriages 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.
But in 2020, the marriage rate was down to 5.1 per 1,000 people, according to the data. The rate started to climb the next year, and by 2022, the number of marriages had reached 6.2 per capita and over 2 million in a year, according to the report.
Marissa Nelson, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Washington, DC, believes that the rise in marriage rates could be a result of more than just rescheduling.
Being in lockdown together gave many couples a unique hurdle to overcome, one that made them more intentional about how they approached important things like finances, compromise, and autonomy. According to Nelson, many people left that experience having a better understanding of what they are looking for in a life partner.
Divorce rates are going down
Intentionality may also be behind the decline in divorce rates, she added.
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 to show a downward trend, according to the data.
The rate of divorces in 2000 was 4 per 1,000, which implies that the current rate is a significant decrease from two decades ago.
Being stuck in a home together during lockdown forced a lot of couples to face problems in their relationship head-on, Nelson said. That might have caused additional conflict, or it could have helped them lay a better foundation for a stable future, she added.
Changes over the past two decades may also have helped. Nelson mentioned that therapy has become more commonplace, marriage roles have become more adaptable, and individuals are more accustomed to discussing openly how they want their marriages to function.
Changing how we pick our partners
Another significant change recently has been the way people enter into marriages, as stated by Ian Kerner, a licensed marriage and family therapist.
“In my practice over the last decade, I’ve noticed a gradual shift from the ‘romantic marriage’ to the ‘companionate marriage,’ meaning that people are increasingly choosing spouses at the outset who are more like best friends than passion-partners,” Kerner said via email.
Doing so may lead to problems with attraction, but it also means those people are choosing partners based on qualities likely to promote long-term stability and satisfaction, he said in a previous CNN article.
“At its bare minimum, the concept of commitment implies the experience of being bonded with another. At its very best, it means being bonded with someone who is a consistent safe and secure home base that will be there for you in the face of any adversities,” said Dr. Monica O’Neal, a Boston psychologist.
