Marriages affected by partners’ mobile phone snubbing

A third of people in a relationship say they have suffered “screen snubbing” from their partners being distracted by their mobile phone use, according to a UK survey.

And the problem, a bigger issue for millennials than older people, could be causing marriage and relationship breakdown, according to divorce lawyers.

More than a third of people (36%) in a relationship surveyed said they or their partners had been distracted due to their mobile phone usage, rising to 57% for millennials aged between 25 and 34.

And 11% of millennials confessed to being “disloyal” on their phones, according to a poll of 2,000 adults.

Amanda Rimmer, a partner and family law expert at Stephensons Solicitors LLP who commissioned the poll, said: “Some couples now spend more time in bed with their mobile phone than being affectionate with each other.

“People sleep with their phone, eat with it, play with it and talk to it – it’s almost a relationship itself. Mobile phones can build mistrust, doubt and suspicion, cause arguments and infidelity.

“We’ve experienced a surge in divorce inquiries in the last five years because of phoneaholic partners, with many people citing a partner’s secretive mobile phone behaviour as an indication that the relationship is falling apart.”

Figures from Ofcom suggest adults check on their phones every 12 minutes during the day.