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More marriages will disintegrate this week than at any other time of the
year, says a study that shows today as the busiest day of the year for
divorce lawyers.
Up to one in five couples will inquire about divorce after the pressure of
Christmas pushes unsteady marriages beyond breaking point, researchers
found.
Millions more will contemplate separation but decide to continue for the
sake of children or for financial reasons.
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Adultery, lack of sex, abuse and boredom were the main causes of divorce
inquiries.
But the enforced intimacy of Christmas coupled with the fresh start of a new
year provided the trigger, the study said.
More than 100 law firms told the information website insidedivorce.com that
the second week of January was their busiest of the year. The second peak is
after the summer holidays.
James Stewart, from Manches LLP, a leading divorce law firm, said: "We will
be incredibly busy. We just do not have time to sit down at this time of
year.
"The peak comes in the second week of January because parents are trying
hard to make Christmas good for their children and they want to get them
settled back at school before they take any active steps to end their
marriage.
"The Christmas holiday can often be the final nail in the marital coffin
because extra time together can force problems that already exist. . . to a
head. We are expecting this to be our busiest day and indeed our busiest
week."
Each divorcing couple will spend ?28,000 as a result of the split and almost
half will end up poorer in the long-term, the survey of 2,000 people found.
But fewer than 40 per cent will be happier.
More than a quarter of people said they divorced because of infidelity and
one in five said they had fallen out of love.
However, almost one in five women also cited mental and/or physical abuse.
The single biggest problem for men (36 per cent) was boredom and lack of
sex. One in 10 married couples no longer have sex, said the report.
Faye Rowe, the website's editor, said: "These findings paint a bleak picture
of the institution of marriage.
"It is worrying that sex - not having it or having it with someone other
than your partner - is the main catalyst for divorce. It suggests that we
are no longer satisfied with having one partner for life."
The findings follow official figures in September that showed the number of
people divorcing has fallen to a five-year low. Divorces in England and
Wales fell to 141,750 in 2005 from 153,399 in 2004, a drop of eight per
cent.
Today's research also found that if marriages last more than 10 years they
are likely to survive. The most common time to separate was soon after seven
years.
Paula Hall, a relationship therapist at Relate, the marriage counselling
service, said: "Relationship breakdown is complex and the damage has often
been done over many years of either unresolved conflict or distance."
The research, carried out by Tickbox.net, also looked at the impact of
divorce on 350 children. It found that almost 30 per cent wanted their
parents to get back together and only 13 per cent objected to them taking a
new partner.
Children of divorced parents were also more likely to have doubts when they
themselves married.
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