Economic slump affects relationships

The ongoing recession in global economy has taken its toll on relationships too, if the latest figures released by the renowned Cartner magazine are to be believed. According to the magazine, the number of new relationships that have emerged over the last 90 days has shown a sharp decline of almost 70 percent as compared to the same period last year. The magazine also reports a 45 percent rise in the number of breakups and a 32 percent decline in instant relationships, in the same period. The magazine has attributed this decline to the recession and says that the overall outlook is gloomy as people have other things on their mind.

Cartner further says that the worst effected of the lot are relationships involving multiple partners. “I used to have three boyfriends; one for emotional support, another for shopping and a third one for showoff. I have dumped two of them as they are unable to do anything for me. I know it was a very tough decision on my part, but then that’s how the cookie crumbles. I didn’t even mail them saying they were dumped. I just removed them from my friends list on a social networking site,” a Bangalore-based socialite told this blogger.

According to psychologist Dr Hammerschmidst, “everyone is worried about saving their jobs, career and money. It’s indeed a bad time to get into a relationship as you may be dumped sooner than Raj Thackrey issuing a mindless statement”. “During the last few months, our rivals laid off so many employees. My company didn’t do so; but, my girlfriend Priety dumped me without even issuing a notice and that has hurt me,” says Shoo Air CEO, Mess Wadia.

Dr Hammerschmidst feels that the recession will offer the ultimate challenge for couples to stay together. “If you can cross this bridge, you needn’t worry about anything else in the future. Its like a vaccination, you may feel the pain now, but in the end it’s for your own good”, the doc said.

The recession has hurt countries like Singapore in more ways than one. In addition to dealing with the economic fallout, Singapore is expected to witness a steep decline in the rate of population growth. The government, which was till recently encouraging people to have more than two kids, is now finding it difficult to keep people engaged in relationships. Singapore government is now actively considering the option of guaranteeing relationships in some way to avoid breakups. “We have not yet guaranteed bank deposits, but may consider extending a financial guarantee for relationships, if needed,” a top ranking official told this blogger.

Officials from the Singapore government have also contacted Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center in China to study successful methods to increase Panda population.