However, it does not reveal the divorce rate because it depends on the underlying number of marriages in the population.
It also ignores de facto relationship separations, which are becoming more common.
Data from the 2021 census released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week revealed that 11.5 per cent of people over the age of 15 are in a de facto relationship. This has increased by 9.4% in 2011 and 10.4% in 2016.
The executive director of the Separation Guide, Angela Harbinson, estimated that the actual divorce figures were double, when it included separations of de facto relationships.
Harbinson said a political response was warranted to offset the negative effects of separation and divorce, including “higher rates of crime, suicide and depression, long-term poverty and lost labor productivity.” Using the methodology of a British study, he estimated that the social cost to Australia was $ 860,000 a year.
The census showed that 46.5 percent of the population over the age of 15 is married, down from 48.1 percent in 2016. Divorced people account for 8.8 percent of the population, while 36 , 5 percent have never been married, both more than in 2016.
There are currently more than one million single-parent families, representing 15.9% of all families, compared to 14.5% 25 years ago.
Bec Chappell, photographed with her dog Alfie, separated from her husband during the pandemic. Credit: Janie Barrett
Bec Chappell, 34, of Castle Hill in Sydney, separated from her husband in late 2020. In January she told him she was unhappy with the relationship, before the pandemic hit Australia, and they remained living together. during confinement.
“When we went to bed one night he said, ‘I don’t think I want to be with you anymore,’ and I said, ‘Okay, okay, I don’t want to be with anyone who does.’ I don’t love myself.” said Chappell.
“In retrospect, my reaction definitely surprised me and told me more about where I was in the relationship.”
The couple had been married for three years for three years, but had no children yet. Chappell has a new love interest, but first he took the time to find out who he was as an individual before rushing into another relationship.
Divorce coach Carla Da Costa, who works with clients nationwide to help them with the practical and emotional aspects of the separation, said she had a steady stream of clients during the pandemic and most were from Sydney. and Melbourne where they experienced the longest confinements.
“Most inquiries and new clients come to me expressing that confinement forced them to reevaluate their relationship,” Da Costa said.
“A lot of people were really into that hamster wheel of life and were distracted by taking kids back and forth to school, to their careers and outside hobbies and social life.”
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Da Costa said the new generation was less likely to settle for unsatisfactory relationships and could find fulfillment after the divorce in “a second chapter of life.”
That was the case with Melbourne woman Lauren Cox, 44, who uses a pseudonym.
Cox, who was married for two decades and has two school-age children, said the pandemic increased his dissatisfaction with his role in the family.
“I felt like they were taking me for granted not just as a housewife, but also as in charge of everything at home with the kids and cooking and all that … there was an underlying expectation that I would grab the little bits.” she said.
The couple tried counseling, but “felt uncomfortable and too far away” and separated in 2021. Cox said that if it hadn’t been for the pandemic, they would still be together, but he thinks they wouldn’t be as happy as they. could be separated.
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