January is a reflective month. The holidays are behind us, a New Year’s resolution is top of mind, and another 12 months await. However, if you find yourself in an unhappy relationship, thoughts of divorce are not uncommon during the first month of the year.
Most law firms are generally slow from Thanksgiving until New Year’s. Divorces are rare during the latter weeks of November to January, with those unhappy couples preferring to push the inevitable until after the holidays. Google search trends confirm this as ” divorce ” shows an uptick from January 6th and on. While there are indeed more divorces in January than, say, in December, this does not suggest that January is the “divorce month.”
Over the past five years, divorce as a search term has picked up over several months, January included. For example, March and September are high months, and the rise in January could be due to the drop-off between November and December. A study from the University of Washington looked at divorce filings over 14 years (2001 to 2015). The results pointed to peaks in March and August, immediately following the winter and summer holidays.
Holidays are times of happiness but also rising expectations. Despite all the ups and downs of the year, the expectation is winter and summer will bring more joy. For some, this is a reality, but for others, it ends in deception once again. As such, coming out of the holidays – in March and August – is an understandable time for folks to seek a change.
According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, marriage in the US declined from 2000 to 2018. However, the number of divorces also declined over the 8-year period (4 per 1,000 in 2000 to 2.9 per 1,000 in 2018). Marriage is not nearly as “popular” as it was in the 1960s, and more and more couples are opting to cohabitate for extended periods.
In terms of the reasons why most people file for divorce, incompatibility, infidelity, and financial issues top the list. The lack of romance and responsibilities with children has been on the rise as of late. Some studies point to an uptick in divorce filings during the weeks post Valentine’s Day and, as the University of Washington study found, during August. Fall is when school starts again for kids, and the stressors pick up.
Regardless of when a divorce occurs, the commonality that nearly all divorcees share is expectations were not met. It is difficult to remain with somebody who is not fulfilling what you desire, regardless of the month of the year.
