Brown on Business
December 28 - January 3, 2021
Sane wishes and hopes for 2021
By Wesley Brown
wesley@dailydata.com
One day soon, if the COVID-19 vaccine works as predicted, things that we took for granted this year will once again be a part of our everything lives. Entering 2020, of course, no one could have predicted that many families across America would be celebrating Christmas by opening presents on a virtual platform that sounds like a fast car.
But alas, this is where we find ourselves, hoping that 2021 will be the exact opposite of the past year, sans January, February, and parts of March before COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. In the coming months, here are few things that could signal that Arkansans are getting back to normal once this coronavirus has hit herd immunity and died. They include:
• Callin’ the Hogs in a crowded stadium in below-freezing weather in the middle of December with 90,000 fellow Arkansans.
• Wearing a mask solely as a new symbol of modern fashion rather than as a matter of life and death.
• Opening the church doors on Sunday morning and happily finding there are no seats available in a once sparsely crowded congregation.
• Wondering if I will ever spend another moment on a Caribbean cruise or eating at the local buffet.
• Having a conversation with a family member, peer, or stranger without anything related to COVID-19 weaving its way into the dialogue.
• Eating out on Friday evening and having to pleasantly wait for the maître d’ to find a seat in a crowded local restaurant that is overflowing with new patrons.
Unfortunately, those are everyday things that today seem like faraway dreams and near-impossible scenarios. Yet unlike many, I had the pleasure of working remotely for several years before the SARS-CoV-2 virus alighted upon Arkansas on Mar 11, and Gov. Asa Hutchinson subsequently issued statewide stay-at-home orders in late March. For me, the frequent routine of working at home made the transition to the shelter-in-home way of life a lot easier than others I know.
This experience for many has kind of like my earlier wish as a youth of finding a job that would allow me to travel frequently from place to place as a way of life. Once that opportunity landed in my lap, it only took about six months of living out of suitcases and nondescript hotels and flying on crowded planes to know this life was not as exciting and glamorous as I remembered in my youthful mind.
A teacher friend who now works and gives instructions virtually from home every day also feels the same way about the remote teaching and learning experience. Her prayer is that she, her students, and peers get early spots in the state’s three-tiered COVID-19 vaccination program so that she can get back into the classroom as quickly as possible.
Many others are also learning how difficult it can be to spend 24 hours each day with their spouses, children, or just themselves. A week ago, a report with the headline “familiar breeds contempt” highlighted how the nation’s divorce rate has spiked over the last nine months in tandem with the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
What is even more laughable is the fact that this phenomenon has occurred even as most courthouses and courtrooms across the nation have shuttered, ostensibly making it more challenging to annul a marriage. But that’s not the case. As most Americans have quickly adapted to the new virtual world that many people now find themselves living in, those looking to de-couple have also found a new way and quicker way to exit their marriages legally.
In July, legal document database LegalTemplates.com said it sold 34% more divorce agreements in March to June 2020 than the same period last year. According to a survey on the pandemic’s impact on relationships, 31% of couples say the quarantine has been damaging.
With so many couples struggling, the survey said lawyers across the U.S. predict record numbers of divorce filings once quarantine restrictions are lifted, as seen in China. That’s because many couples are spending 24/7 together and confronting major COVID-19 related stressors that are spilling over into their marriages, such as quarantine conditions, unemployment, financial strain, death of loved ones, illness, homeschooling children, mental illnesses, and more.
The LegalTemplates.com data also revealed some other shocking insights about divorce during COVID-19, including how quickly stay-at-home orders decimated some happy marriages and brought honeymoons to a screeching halt. For example, the online survey shows that interest in separation amid the pandemic peaked on Apr 13, spiking 57% compared to Feb 13, 2020. That many marriages collapsed less than two months after Valentine’s Day and about a month after Arkansas and most states began official quarantines.
The LegalTemplates.com report also revealed 58% of users pursuing a divorce during the COVID-19 pandemic were married within the last five years — a 16% jump from 2019. This data indicates that recently married couples were less equipped to deal with the stressors of the COVID-19 virus than mature couples.
Yet, the couples who were married five months or less experienced the most devastation, the report noted. In 2019, only 11% of users were married for five months or less before purchasing a divorce agreement. During the same period in 2020, amid the COVID-19 quarantine, that number nearly doubled to 20%, meaning that a significant number of couples got married between January and March and pursued a divorce in the quarantine period between April and June.
On the other hand, the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics launched the Household Pulse Survey in April to “rapidly monitor recent changes in mental health” weekly during the COVID-19 crisis. Since March, the coronavirus has kept millions of Americans isolated in their homes, away from friends, co-workers, church members, and family who are a critical emotional support network.
As a result of these pressures, the Census Bureau’s online survey found that more than one-third of American adults reported depressive or anxiety disorder symptoms — triple the rate reported in 2019. Suppose the study accurately reflects the share of adults with these symptoms in the total population. In that case, it highlights that over 90 million American adults may be suffering from anxiety and depression, or both.
Although it may take a while to unravel what this all means, hopefully, we can find some answers well after the virus disappears. But what is clear is although no man or woman can live remotely or healthy on an island alone, having some time away from the crowd is also just as good for our mental health.
