The charity Relate has used data from Understanding Society to provide a unique insight into the state of relationships in the UK.
The data, collected from over 100,000 people in the UK, was the basis for the findings in the Relationships Distress Monitor which has tracked how couples are feeling about their relationships between 2009 and 2014.
Relate said: “Evidence shows that good quality relationships are central to good health and wellbeing – for adults and children – while distressed relationships are major risk factors for poor mental and physical health.
However, until now, we have lacked detailed national data on levels of relationship distress. This report provides new analysis of data from the Understanding Society survey to estimate the proportion and number of people nationally who are in relationships which would be characterised within clinical practice as ‘distressed’. It finds nearly 1-in-5 (18%) people (2.87 million) are in relationships which could be characterised as ‘distressed’.”