Married couples suffer most from pressure of lockdown

STRESS caused by lockdown is worst among married couples, research by the Office of National Statistics has found.

Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, those who had tied the knot had the lowest levels of anxiety, but the lockdown and the challenges of homeschooling and caring for a family have made them the most anxious group, the survey suggests, although government statisticians found that levels of anxiety generally appear to be reducing compared to the start of lockdown.

When social distancing measures were first introduced there was a “marked” increase in anxiety with almost half (49.6 per cent) of people reporting high anxiety between March 20 and March 30.

This reduced to 37 per cent between April 30 and May 10.

Almost two in five (39 per cent) of people who are married or in a civil partnership have reported high levels of anxiety during lockdown – up from 19 per cent in the last quarter of 2019.

Prior to the pandemic, the “percentage reporting high anxiety was lowest for people who are married or in a civil partnership compared with all other marital status groups”.

The ONS suggests that the group are more likely to be trying to juggle family and work commitments, with one in four homeschooling, compared with approximately one in 10 people who are single, separated or divorced.

A separate study by the ONS revealed men’s childcare hours have increased by an average of 58 per cent since the shutdown began on Mar 23.

The number of single people suffering with high levels of anxiety has risen from 22 to 36 per cent. Among those who are separated or divorced it is up from 25 to 37 per cent and those who are widowed from 20 to 33 per cent.

Dawn Snape, an ONS statistician, said: “Our figures show that the equivalent of 19 million adults in Britain report high levels of anxiety.”