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  • COVID as cupid: Pandemic pushed 80% of couples to shack up in 2020

    February 8, 2021

  • We all know by now — one month into 2021 — that the pandemic has fundamentally altered how people think about their lifestyle and where they live.

    But for many, that also goes hand in hand with whom they live. According to a recent survey undertaken by apartment rental service Zumper in advance of Valentine’s Day, a whopping 80 percent of couples decided to move in together as a direct result of the pandemic.

    Those relationships also spread across the spectrum in terms of how long couples were together before deciding on the milestone of cohabitation. Almost half (43 percent) of couples who moved in together had been dating for less than six months, while 21 percent had been dating for one to two years.

    For this study, Zumper used survey tool Pollfish to collect 750 responses from people across the U.S. who were 18 years or older on January 25, 2021, and confirmed that they had moved in with a significant other during 2020.

    Credit: Zumper

    “Given the lockdown restrictions, choosing to live together — and for many, very early on in their relationship — was one of the easiest ways to ensure they could see each other,” a spokesperson for Zumper said in a statement. “In fact, according to the survey, two-thirds of couples who did move in together as a result of the pandemic said their relationship is better because of it.”

    Interestingly, couples who had been together a longer time were less likely to make a change to their living situation as a result of the pandemic. Just 11 percent of couples who had been together between three to four years decided to quarantine together, only 7 percent of couples of 10 years or more, and only 6 percent of couples of five to nine years. As they say, old habits die hard.

    So far, most couples seem to have made the right decision. Zumper found that 66 percent of couples surveyed said living together in quarantine has improved their relationship, and 90 percent are still living together.

    Email Lillian Dickerson