Many relationships crash after Christmas and New Year's

Lately, I've had the feeling that there was a kind of break-up wave going on in the world of Dutch celebrities. André and Monique, Dave Roelvink and Julia, Martijn Garritsen and Charelle Shriek, and these are just three couples in the past two weeks who broke up. Does a domino effect also work in break-ups? I don't know, but the fact is that most couples split up in winter. These three are actually just a bit too early with it. Christmas and New Year's are precisely the times when you kick your partner out the door.

You might think that Christmas and New Year's are times for cozy togetherness, but nothing could be further from the truth. Well, in the relational sphere, that is. The holidays seem to be quite detrimental for that. In fact, in America and the United Kingdom, the month after, January, is also known as ‘Divorce Month’. Uh, okay... Merry Christmas then? I think?

Because even in our little country, most divorces are filed in January. Interestingly, there is a dip in those applications just before Christmas. Hmm. Could those be couples trying to survive Christmas anyway and see if there's anything to save in their relationship? You would think they wouldn't throw in the towel so soon after the holidays, but according to divorce lawyers, January 2nd has always been a super busy day. Or does that have something to do with New Year's resolutions? New year, new resolutions, goodbye to that ex. Hatsee.

Okay, this isn't (yet) completely academically substantiated, but speculation is always possible, of course. According to sociology professor Julie Brines, the main reason couples postpone their divorce over the holidays is that it's ‘not done’ to ruin the holidays for everyone. It's seen as antisocial. You also run the risk that when there are children involved, those kids will continue to associate the holidays with an unpleasant event like a divorce. Okay, I must say: makes sense. Although I can't really imagine that those holidays just before a divorce are all that great, but okay.

What I'm also curious about is whether the hourly rates of divorce lawyers suddenly skyrocket in January. Kind of supply and demand? I see a gap in the market.