Love is in the air with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, but this year the annual Hallmark holiday will involve a whole lot of social distancing – unless you happen to be one of the many couples who moved in together early on in the relationship, COVID be damned.
But as 2020 (finally) came to a close, Zumper, a U.S.-based apartment rental service, picked up on a hot new trend: more people had decided to create their own love shack with their partners in 2020 compared to 2019. The results were gleaned from 14,321 renters from across all 50 states.
The couples polled made the decision to live together after less than six months of dating
Related: 10 dating terms we keep hearing and what they mean.
According to the data, more than 80 per cent of couples surveyed by Zumper said they moved in together because of the pandemic – it looks like Shakespeare was onto something when he said “parting was such sweet sorrow.” But the real whopper came from the fact that nearly half (43 per cent) of the couples polled made the decision to live together after less than six months of dating. Now, that’s a commitment!
If you’re already assuming these folx will be splitsville the minute the pandemic ends, two-thirds of the couples polled who moved in together said their relationship was better because of it, thank-you-very-much.
Related: Hookup dos and don’ts.
Although all of Zumper’s data is American-based, it still reflects an ongoing trend in Canada as well, where new-ish partners are opting to live together (and split rent) versus dating long-distance in their own city.
What will happen to all these couples once the pandemic (eventually) comes to an end? That remains to be seen. But in the meantime, they’ll be breaking out the bubbly and ordering takeout from their favourite local restaurants, just like everyone else on February 14.
See also: Quarantine partners: how to avoid breaking up during stressful times.
