Relationships got stronger during COVID, study finds

Many couples also reported that their sex lives improved in 2020

Engagement ring. (Jasmine Carter from Pexels.)

Over the past year, there is no doubt that the ramifications of the pandemic — isolation, fear of contracting or spreading COVID, and financial instability, to name a few — have put a strain on relationships.

However, despite this, eharmony’s annual “Happiness Index” study finds romantic relationships actually got stronger throughout 2020.

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According to the study, despite all of the challenges of 2020, nearly 60 percent of couples report their relationships have gotten even stronger over the past year. So much so, that 39 percent of couples say their sex lives also improved during 2020, and 36 percent of those surveyed say their relationship had a positive impact on their mental health.

Other key findings: 71 percent of couples are glad they had someone to lean on during the pandemic, and 47 percent of people surveyed say they have learned positive information about their significant other the past year, more so than they have in other years.

Furthermore, the pandemic instilled thoughts of planning the future for many, and due to the hot housing market that COVID has caused, 20 percent of the couples surveyed moved into a new home in 2020.

To learn more about the “The Happiness Index: Love and Relationships in America,” visit eharmony’s Happiness Index 2021 page.