Though attitudes about infidelity are slowly changing, extramarital affairs are still a major reason why nearly half of all American marriages end in divorce. The holiday season may just be the most common time to have an affair.
According to The Huffington Post, data from the mobile dating app Clover revealed that more people, who are already in relationships, sign up during the holidays than at any other time of year. Additionally, the same data revealed an interesting trend which showed that people who earn less than $60,000 annually are nearly three times more likely to seek a new relationship while in an existing relationship.
Perhaps the most surprising part of the study showed that women who were in relationships were more likely to sign up for the app than men who were already involved in a relationship. This runs counter to the accepted idea that women are less likely to cheat, although new studies have found that women are more likely to cheat now than they may have been in the past.
A 2010 survey, released by the National Opinion Research Center, showed that women are 40 percent more likely to cheat than they were 20 years ago. “Some researchers think this is because more of them are in the workforce,” The Huffington Post reports, “and because more women today have jobs that require them to travel.”
It is not only work trends, of course, that lead people to cheat—and the holidays in general could lead more people to be unfaithful and toward a subsequent divorce. According to More Magazine, holiday depression can contribute to the 56 percent of men and 42 percent of women who admit to cheating on their significant other during the holidays. More cites a study which found that although the rate of extramarital affairs increases during the holidays, these affairs tend to end once the holidays end.
If you suspect that your spouse is cheating and want to know your options for divorce or legal separation, the most important step is to speak with an experienced attorney. Contact an experienced DuPage County family law attorney today.