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Regions see spike in divorce rates amid COVID-19 pandemic
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Illustration of divorce. (Shutterstock/Roman Motizov)
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number of regions in Indonesia have seen a significant increase in divorce rates during the COVID-19 pandemic with financial issues cited as among the main factors of the break-ups.
The Soreang Religious Court in Bandung regency, West Java, for example, received more than 1,000 divorce requests in June alone—higher than the average 700 to 800 requests they previously received in a month.
A staff member at the court, Ahmad Sadikin, said the majority of the plaintiffs were wives who claimed they did not get financial support from their husbands.
He further said that the number of divorce suits had drastically soared recently, overwhelming officials at the court.
“[The court] even had to close its operation for two weeks in May [due to the piled-up cases],” Ahmad said on Monday, as quoted by kompas.com.
South Tangerang in Banten, meanwhile, had recorded nearly 2,000 divorce petitions up to Monday. On average, the city sees between 2,500 to 3,000 divorce cases annually.
“This year’s cases have increased by more than 5 percent,” Abdul Rojak, the head of the Religious Affairs Ministry’s South Tangerang office, said last week as reported by kompas.com.
He revealed that many of the couples eventually decided to end their relationships because of economic pressures.
Read also: Economist, epidemiologist slam government over COVID-19 response
At least two other regions, namely Lhokseumawe in Aceh and Semarang in Central Java have also reported a similar increase in divorce rates.
Tribunnews.com reported that the Lhokseumawe authorities received 315 divorce suits by the end of July, while last year’s suits only stood at 258.
The Semarang Religious Court recorded an increase in divorce suits in the first half of 2020, amounting to 1,586.
The court’s deputy chief, Muhamad Camuda, said financial issues were mostly cited as the cause of the divorces.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has sent Indonesia into the worst economic slump since 1999, which has affected various business sectors and individual lives.
Data from the Manpower Ministry showed that as of May 27, more than 1.79 million people had lost their jobs after nonessential businesses shut down to comply with government restrictions.
National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa said last month the government predicted some 5.5 million people might lose their jobs this year, pushing the unemployment rate to between 8.1 and 9.2 percent, up from 5.28 percent last year. (vny)
