Researchers: Divorce Season Comes Right After The Holidays

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – There's a season for everything -- including divorce, it seems.

Researchers at the University of Washington reportedly found "the first quantitative evidence of a seasonal, biannual pattern to divorce fillings."

The scientists analyzed divorce filings in Washington from 2001 to 2015 and discovered consistent peaks in March and August.

The idea is that people file for divorce following either summer or winter holidays.

"People tend to face the holidays with rising expectations, despite what disappointments they might have had in years past," one researcher wrote. "They represent periods in the year when there's the anticipation or the opportunity for a new beginning, a new start, something different, a transition into a new period of life."

However, when those expectations fall short, people seem to question the value of their marriage. For instance, if that summer trip to Glacier National Park didn't reignite the spark, it may well just expose where exactly the fissures lie.

The searchers say they looked at data from other states – including Minnesota – and found that the seasonal pattern persisted.