Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that more than one million British people claimed they were “extremely unhappy” in their current relationship. This represents one person out of every twenty polled for the ONS’ annual wellbeing survey and twice the number who reported unhappiness in 2010.
Additionally, 3.5 per cent of those polled said they were “fairly unhappy”, which is also double the 2010 figure. By contrast, the number of people who said their relationship was “perfect” fell sharply in the same time, dropping from 9.2 per cent in 2010 to 5.9 per cent in 2014.
Relationship advice charity Relate believes the economic recession which began in 2008 is one of the main reasons for such results. This downturn caused a so-called “social recession” which has been hard for some couples to recover from, the group has claimed.
Dr David Marjoribanks, the charity’s Policy and Public Affairs Manager, explained that “financial shocks and unemployment can reduce relationship quality by increasing conflict in relationships, decreasing mental wellbeing, and even impacting on physical health”.
He added that “sitting back and hoping things will get better is not an option” and insisted that if the government wants to help on this issue “they must ensure that everyone who needs relationship support can access it, including … those with limited finances”.
Read the full ONS report here.
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