How to strengthen your relationship during the pandemic

Have you found love in the pandemic? Decided it was time to break things off with someone? Has the pandemic brought you and your partner closer together… or has it made your relationship more rocky? 

The American Family Survey found in 2020 that 37 percent of married people reported that the pandemic has increased stress in their marriage. But on the flipside, that same survey found that 56 percent of those surveyed said the pandemic made them appreciate their partner more. 

So how can we strengthen our romantic relationships during times of prolonged stress and trauma? And how do we navigate dating and starting new relationships? 

MPR News guest host Twila Dang talks with a relationships and dating writer and a marriage and family therapist about navigating love during the pandemic. 

Guests: 

• Lisa Bonos writes about dating and relationships for The Washington Post

• Steve Harris is a professor in the Couple and Family Therapy Program in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota

• Yachao Li is an associate editor for the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and an assistant professor of communication studies at the College of New Jersey

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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