Marriage under lock down: Divorce down, counseling up

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - Being stuck at home for the last year has been hard on the best of us, and it may have put strain on more than a few relationships.

So how many Lucas County couples have called it quits?

2020 was a year of uncertainty, but we know one thing for sure, lock down is hard on couples.

“Any issues before that we were able to ignore because they had to go to work or they were busy, all of a sudden are right in our faces because we don’t have the ability to ignore them because we’re spending so much time together,” says Erin Wiley, MA, LPCC.

Wiley provides counseling for couples and families at The Willow Center in Toledo.

According to the Lucas County Court Administrator, in 2020, 1,203 people filed for divorce or dissolution of marriage in Lucas County, down 115 from 2019.

That fits in a general downward trend we’ve seen over the last ten years. But that doesn’t track with what Wiley is seeing at her practice.

“We’ve never received more calls for couples couseling than we have right now. Even to the point where we cannot fully accommodate all of the people who are seeking help,” says Wiley.

So why is this not reflected in the courtroom? Wiley has a guess.

“For a lot of people, big decisions like career moves or divorce are kind of on the back burner because we’re still trying to remember to bring our mask in the grocery store,” says Wiley.

She says issues stirred up over the last year aren’t going to disappear as we start to get back to normal. So for now, her business is still busy, and only time will tell if, in the future, divorce court will be, too.

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