A new poll of the UK’s ‘Christmas stress factors’ finds that people in the North West of England, particularly divorced or separated couples, are bracing themselves for a stressful festive season. According to the research 29% of people in the North West say they are not looking forward to the Christmas season, rising to over a third (37%) for people who are divorced or separated.
The new data, published on 25 November 2013 – exactly one month before Christmas – assesses a range of festive stress factors and finds that making family arrangements, a fear of loneliness and deciding where to spend Christmas are all causing “significant” concerns for many families in the North West, “particularly divorced couples,” according to experts.
The survey of adults in the North West, based on a ComRes poll for Resolution - the body representing 6,500 family law professionals in England and Wales - finds that:
- 44% say they “find the Christmas season very stressful”, rising to 50% for divorced couples.
- 33% “just want the Christmas season to be over with as quickly as possible”, rising to 42% for divorced people.
- 46% of respondents say that they “like organising Christmas parties/get togethers for my family” but that fell to 38% for divorced people.
- Just 58% of divorced couples agreed that “Christmas season is a great opportunity to catch up with family I don't usually see”, compared with 64% for all people in the North East
- Loneliness is a problem for lots of people. 15% of those surveyed said that they “feel particularly lonely during the Christmas season” rising to 19% for divorced people.
- 40% of people who responded said that they “find making arrangements during the Christmas season is stressful”, rising to 47% for people who are divorced.
Fiona Davidson, chairwoman for Resolution’s Collaborative Law Merseyside said: “Many aspects of the festive season cause acute stress for families in the North West but it is significant that particularly divorced or separated couples find the Christmas season stressful. We also know that the festive season can put a real stress on relationships. For those couples who are going through a separation, it can often be made significantly less stressful and more financially manageable by exploring all the options that are available.”
They added, “Our research also found that many people are unaware of their options when they are going through a break-up. Whilst for some couples court is unavoidable, for many more there are alternatives such as family mediation, family arbitration and the collaborative process. Resolution members are committed to helping couples going through break-ups to do so in the least stressful way possible, in order to help make future Christmases easier for both children and adults.”
The polling was commissioned as part of Family Dispute Resolution Week (Nov 25th – 30th 2013) during which Resolution is launching a new advice guide, providing more information about the options available for couples going through separation or divorce. This guide can be downloaded at: www.resolution.org.uk/separatingtogether
For further information, please visit the Collaborative Law Merseyside website www.collaborativelawmerseyside.co.uk or telephone 01942 774134.