Covid has strained couples, families

The Covid-19 pandemic has taken an immense emotional toll on humankind, with people around the world dealing with the tragic loss of loved ones and heightened everyday pressures that have come from living, working and schooling from home.

While many families have enjoyed spending more time together during the pandemic, there are some relationships that have failed to thrive during a period of unprecedented upheavals and uncertainties.

From arguments over Covid rules and restrictions to disagreements over whether children should be vaccinated — and even disputes between families and friends over the very existence of the virus — have seen relationships pushed to breaking point during the pandemic, according to family law experts and psychologists.

“Marital conflicts have definitely been on the rise since the pandemic. I have noticed a rise in the number of clients seeking a divorce. I get three to four inquiries a day for my services, whereas prior to Covid the inquiries were much less,” New York City divorce lawyer Lisa Beth Older told CNBC.

She attributed the increase in divorce inquiries to couples having to work from home and spend more time together, with underlying conflicts and marital issues then harder to overlook.

However, Older, who has been practicing matrimonial law in New York for over 30 years, also noted that many of the disagreements she has seen lately have been specifically about Covid, with children a particular flashpoint.

“The most common conflict I see is where the custodial parents have different outlooks on Covid and how it affects their children,” she said.

“[For example,] anti-vaccination spouses involved in a divorce or custody dispute do not believe Covid exists, or do not agree that Covid poses a threat to the children, and so they believe that the children should be allowed to travel on airplanes, use public transportation, and go mask-less. The vaccinated spouse prefers that the child not travel or incur unnecessary public exposure to risks,” she said.

One common issue that arises, Older said, is whether children should be homeschooled or attend public school, while “another argument is whether or not the children will be vaccinated or not,” although she noted that vaccine mandates for children in New York who want to do extracurricular activities had led some parents to relent over vaccine hesitancy.

“Most of the parents have bowed under the pressure and allowed their children to be vaccinated, some begrudgingly,” she said.

It’s well-known that the divorce rate has increased during the pandemic — the U.K.’s largest family law firm reported a 95% increase in divorce inquiries during the pandemic (with…