Cost-of-living crisis blamed for fuelling Australian relationship breakdowns
The season of joy has become a relationship killer, with Christmas financial stress now driving more couples to the brink of divorce.
Family law experts are bracing for a busy start to the new year, with the strain of the festive season pushing couples to the drink of divorce.
Couples are buckling under the strain of day-to-day financial pressures, with almost one in 10 aged 35 to 44 admitting they have “emotionally checked out” of their relationship, while just half of all Aussies surveyed said they were genuinely looking forward to spending the Christmas holiday period with their partner.
A survey of 1002 people conducted by JustFund – a funding specialist for family law matters – found people were only staying in the relationship because of “finances, kids or fear”.
“The survey indicates that relationship conflict is no longer resulting just from major financial decisions like home mortgages; day to day living expenses are also putting pressure on Australian relationships including household essentials,” JustFund Co-CEO and Co-Founder Jack O’Donnell said.
More than eight in 10 Aussies (87 per cent) said they worry about the cost of the festive season, with 15 per cent of women reporting feeling unsupported during Christmas.
Relationships Australia’s National Executive Officer Nick Tebbey said their support services traditionally see a spike in people reaching out for support in January and February.
“Women take a lot more of the toll of organising and arranging things around this time of year but are also perhaps not in an independently financially stable position as their partners, you know that's quite a generalisation. Every relationships is different but these are certainly some of the trends you see at this time of year,” Mr Tebbey said.
More than 47,000 divorces were granted in 2024 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, down from 48,700 the previous year, with the median duration of marriages before divorce being 13.2 years.
JustFund was set up by Mr O’Donnell and Andy O’Connor to provide people with divorce and separation loans, based not on their income or credit score, but on their likely property settlement.
Seven in 10 of JustFund’s clients are women, with 66 per cent having experienced financial abuse or domestic violence.
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One of their clients was mother-of-two Lisa*, who told news.com.au she was stuck in an abusive, controlling marriage, and found herself left with two toddlers, zero savings and a mountain of unaffordable legal bills when she left her wealthy ex-partner.
“I had to hire a migration lawyer … family lawyer … criminal lawyer … commercial lawyer,” she said.
*Name has been changed for privacy reasons
