A survey conducted by Lasting, the leading relationship counselling app by The Knot Worldwide, shows that 74% of couples cook together, while 70% use technology to stay connected, and in love.
With over seven billion people around the world practising social distancing due to the Coronavirus pandemic and crores of Indians locked in at home, people are spending more and more time with their loved ones. Lasting – the leading guided marriage counselling application from The Knot Worldwide, world leaders in the wedding marketplace – released findings from their ‘At Home Together’ survey to analyse how Coronavirus has impacted couples in India and how they have been spending time with one another during the nationwide lockdown. The survey was conducted with singles, newlyweds and married couples as well as those currently in a relationship, through the last two weeks of April 2020. The survey found that 90% of the couples polled have been spending a substantially larger amount of time with each other, with almost 40% of them have said that they are spending close to 18 hours a day with their partner!
Since the announcement of the lockdown, almost half the couples polled (46%) have spent quality time with one another by developing healthier habits to improve their lifestyle. About 40% of couples have deepened their understanding of their partner by communicating more openly, with a majority of them saying they have learnt something new about their partner which has led to shared joy. While 39% of couples have conquered household chores by dividing responsibilities, a vast majority have picked up hobbies like cooking together (74%) or binge-watching their favourite shows (67%) to have shared experiences. Despite the negativity brought on by the pandemic, less than 10% of the couples said that their relationship has strained. 62% of respondents said they need ‘me time’ to feel better as well. After all, being together does not mean not having time for themselves.
As for unmarried or long distance couples, a large majority (70%) stay in touch with their partners over phone and video chats, making technology their greatest ally. Almost half of them (44%) prefer to connect whenever they miss significant others, a small group of respondents (15%) like to set timelines for catching up to keep the discipline.
“The global pandemic is unprecedented and has proven to be a unique and challenging time for couples around the world,” said Dhanusha Sivajee, Chief Marketing Officer, The Knot Worldwide. “As a relationship counselling app from The Knot Worldwide family, Lasting has always prioritised love and healthy relationships over the years. This is especially relevant during this time of need. We are proud to be able to support couples emotionally and help them navigate through these uncertain times to ensure they emerge from this crisis stronger. Through the ‘At Home Together’ survey, we aimed to understand how Indian couples were spending their time and what was the impact on their bonding. Insights from the survey will help us help them navigate the emotional effects of Coronavirus through personalised counselling sessions using Lasting and provide them with support that they might need.”
Ankur Sarawagi, India Country Head, The Knot Worldwide, further adds “Indian society is, at large, a family-oriented set-up. As internet and technology took over and new ways of working emerged, our schedules have gotten busier. We are now always logged in, on the road, stuck in traffic, at the office till late or busy keeping up social commitments in the remaining free time. Time spent with near and dear ones has drastically reduced, especially for couples, which has led to strain on relationships. While the social restrictions and financial uncertainty caused by Coronavirus pandemic have increased stress, anxiety and conflict among individuals and their relationships, the extra time under lockdown that couples are spending together is helping them bond better. As Lasting’s ‘At Home Together’ survey findings suggest, couples across India are enjoying doing simple things together for hours which they did not get time to do earlier. This might actually help them come out of the lockdown even closer than before.”
While the pandemic has instilled fear and uncertainty in various aspects of life and people are required to keep social distance for an indefinite period. This period might, ironically, bring couples closer strengthening love and relationships across the country.
The Knot Worldwide x Lasting’s ‘At Home Together’ survey captured responses from over 1000 singles and engaged, dating as well as married couples in India over the last two weeks of April 2020. Respondents were recruited via email, SMS, community and social media channels of WeddingWire India. The survey was conducted on Qualtrics and covered all major metros, Tier I and Tier II cities in India.
With over four decades of expertise in the wedding industry, The Knot Worldwide is the largest global wedding planning company. The Knot Worldwide is dedicated to building innovative tools and resources that simplify and inspire the wedding planning process. From the proposal to the wedding day, creating a home to starting a family together, we’re there for them every step of the way.
Having inspired and empowered more than 40 million couples to plan a wedding that’s uniquely them, The Knot Worldwide provides leading wedding marketplaces, personalized wedding websites, planning tools and registry services with its brands in 15 countries across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. We help couples plan every aspect of their weddings, from finding inspiration and local wedding professionals to creating and managing all guest experiences, wedding registries and more through The Knot, WeddingWire, Bodas.net, Hitched.co.uk, WeddingWire.in, WeddingWire.ca, Matrimonio.com, Mariages.net and other brands.
The Knot Worldwide also includes lifestyle brands The Bump for pregnancy and parenting, The Bash for bringing important celebrations to life with entertainment vendors, Lasting for building healthy and happy marriages, How They Asked for proposal inspiration and stories and more.
Lasting is your personalized marriage health plan and the leading marriage education and skill-building app. Lasting’s mission is to empower all couples to build and sustain healthy, happy marriages. The app gets to know your relationship and creates a program to help you grow and maintain the health of your marriage. Whether you want to proactively keep your relationship strong, learn better communication and conflict skills, or embed healthy habits into your daily married life, join healthy spouses from all over the world with your own Lasting program.
Couples can download Lasting on iOS and Android and professionals can visit www.getlasting.com/therapists for more information. All mental health professionals who subscribe will receive free access to hundreds of guided relationship sessions on Lasting through April 16, 2021.
For more information, please visit https://www.theknotww.com/ to know more.
