Fewer births, marriages and divorces last year

But deaths soared amid pandemic

A year of social distancing, make-shift home offices and economic pain stopped family decisions in their tracks, with newly released vital statistics showing fewer births, weddings and even divorces last year than in any of the previous 15 years in Florida.

Only the grimmest of vital statistics saw an increase. The number of deaths in Florida reached its highest level in at least five decades — and possibly longer.

Here’s a look at the impact that a year under the weight of a pandemic had on families in Florida.

Births

Experts initially believed that the pandemic would cause birth rates to go up as people were working

from home, but the uncertainty of pandemic life — combined with the strain of virtual learning for children — would take its toll on birth rates.

Florida’s births plummeted to its lowest levels in 14 years as pressures with virtual learning and working from home put added strains on relationships, said Dr. Timothy De Santis, chief of the OB-GYN department at Memorial Healthcare System. A Guttmacher Institute survey from the summer of 2020 showed at least 34% of women were delaying having children due to the uncertainty coming from the pandemic.

“The school closures have really put a tremendous strain on families and it has really reduced their willingness to have children,” explained Dr. De Santis.

Marriages

After seeing some of the most popular years for weddings, marriages plummeted during 2020 as couples decided to postpone their day for a future event when more friends and family could gather safely to help celebrate.

Marriages fell to all-times lows in April 2020 due to lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and a general fear of the virus, explained Abby Gallagher, a wedding planner with Blue Orchid Events. In the summer months, weddings creeped back up as a few couples opted for very small, socially distanced gatherings in backyards with a Zoom option for guests. Marriages spiked again around September, when some couples desperate to finally have their day took advantage of looser restrictions on gatherings.

But for the most part, they remained low as couples didn’t want to navigate having a wedding with strict dancing policies, mask wearing or having out of state friends or families miss their special day due to travel restrictions.

“Some of the general reasons I may be getting from clients is that I can’t have person friends or family attend because they are outside of the United States. Others are waiting for the vaccine rollout or for restrictions to calm down a little bit,” she said. “Or ‘I can’t hug my family comfortably yet’.”

The closing of the courthouses also didn’t help with marriages, Gallagher added. Many of her clients had trouble getting marriage licenses for their weddings in Broward County due to the closures.

Divorces

Divorces were also down in 2020, despite warnings from many that lockdowns would cause relationship issues and subsequent break-ups. The plummet in March and April can be attributed to everyone being in “doomsday mode,” Daniel Forrest with the law offices of Forrest & Forrest, said. With people terrified during the pandemic, many people thought a divorce wouldn’t matter in a time when death seemed imminent.

Another big reason for the decrease could be attributed to the backlog in the court system as the courts shut down for a while due to the pandemic. Hearings were often canceled and rescheduled during the course of 2020 leading to many delays in the process. Another issue popped up that could also explain the low divorce numbers in Florida: the legality of having it over Zoom versus an in person hearing.

“It used to be that having hearings over Zoom was illegal. Now it’s everything,” Forrest said.

Deaths

It’s the only major vital statistic in Florida that was up in 2020 — and it was up a lot. Deaths reached the highest level seen in at least 50 years, mainly due to the deadly COVID-19 making its way through the state. Deaths peaked in the state due to the virus in the summer and fall months, following a spike in cases as the state loosened restrictions on social distancing, lockdowns and mask wearing guidance.