more couples are being honest with each other at Christmas over everything from present choices to family tensions!

Wednesday, 20 December 2017

New survey shows more couples are being honest with each other at Christmas over everything from present choices to family tensions!

They say honesty is the best policy and it seems this is true for a growing number of couples over the Christmas period! A new survey of over 1,000 married individuals* by London law firm Brookman Solicitors has revealed that nowadays, more couples are truthful about their feelings at Christmas, which in turn helps to avoid family tensions, prevent relationship breakdowns and even stop couples from falling victim to the dreaded curse of ‘divorce month’ in January!

The online survey, which was conducted in December 2017, asked married individuals a range of questions relating to their feelings over Christmas, interactions with their partner, family tensions, social media usage and their plans for change in the new year. The results were surprising!

NIP IT IN THE BUD
Almost a third of respondents expected to experience tensions and arguments over Christmas, but of those couples, 66% said they would address the conflict head on and speak about it, helping to alleviate any tension immediately.

TAKING THE HINT
Despite the long-held belief that couples often make poor present decisions for their partners, 67% of respondents said their partner DID take notice of their hints for Christmas presents this year. However, in the event that the wrong decision was made, 58% would be honest with their partner and admit they didn’t like their present, avoiding the need to keep ‘pretending’ to like that awful gift for months on end!

REAL WORLD vs SOCIAL
Surprisingly, nearly 40% of respondents said that their partner would not check their social media profiles AT ALL on Christmas Day, allowing families to spend more time interacting and enjoying each other’s company without the distraction of technology.

A LESS STRESSFUL CHRISTMAS THAN LAST YEAR
Whilst 64% of respondents felt Christmas would still be stressful, over a 1/4 felt that it actually would be LESS stressful than last year, with only a ⅓ saying they would experience family tensions or arguments over the Christmas period. Clearly, more are feeling festive this year, as opposed to frustrated!

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, it is no surprise that 60% of respondents said they would be glad when Christmas is over, and with good reason, as 63% said they planned to change or improve an aspect of their life in 2018. Whilst this could spark a new hobby, a career change, a new home or even a new baby, for some it could indicate a change in relationship.

So what do the results say for the likely state of many relationships as we approach a new year?

Brookman’s Senior Partner, Henry Brookman, said;
“The results of our survey suggest that more people are being honest about a variety of aspects over the Christmas period, are taking time to listen to each other and are trying to avoid dragging out arguments. This is all happening at a time when any frustrations that have been building up throughout the year often come to a head.

January is well known as ‘divorce month’, but at Brookman, we have seen that the majority of enquiries we receive in January do not progress to full Divorce applications. Often it’s a knee-jerk reaction to their feelings at that particular moment in time, which can be made worse by having a ‘bad’ Christmas.

What is clear is that Christmas marks an emotional time for many, and the more open and honest couples can be over this time, the more likely they are to be able to work through any problems and avoid complete relationship breakdowns and even divorce in the new year.”

ENDS

Editor’s Notes

Brookman is a highly regarded specialist family law firm that advises clients in the UK and internationally. Brookman is ranked by the Legal 500 and has been award the Law Society’s quality mark, Lexcel. For more information visit www.brookman.co.uk.

For press enquiries, please contact the Brookman Press Team on 01603 743 363 or email Jenna@mediajems.co.uk

*The online survey was conducted with 1023 married individuals, based in the US, during December 2017. The couples were asked 10 questions relating to Christmas, relationships and their partner’s use of technology, family tensions, honesty and their plans for the new year.