Partners snub loved ones to stare at phones

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

And the problem could be causing marriage and relationship breakdown, according to divorce lawyers.

More than a third of people (36 per cent) surveyed said they or their partners had been distracted by their mobile phone usage, rising to 57 per cent for people aged 25 to 34.

And 11 per cent of millennials confessed to being “disloyal” on their phones, according to the poll of 2,000 UK adults by Yougov.

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. Phones can build mistrust, doubt and suspicion, [and] cause arguments and infidelity.

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

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