Weddings and break-ups: How lockdown affects web searching on relationship topics

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-03-19 10:00

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People’s online searches for family-related topics, such as weddings, divorce, pregnancy testing, and abortions, changed after pandemic lockdowns in the US and six countries in Europe, according to a cross-country analysis of Google Trends. Researchers say the changes were generally small but statistically significant, with the most notable effects in the US, likely due to facing greater social and economic uncertainty. This study could help to understand potential future consequences of lockdowns for family demographics.