Seminar paper from the year 2021 in the subject Sociology - Gender Studies, grade: 1,0, University of Cologne (Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät), course: Comparative Perspectives on Family Demography, language: English, abstract: The aim of this paper is to illustrate the current development of the effect of COVID-19 on couples intending to start a family. The problems they face regarding marriage and childbearing during the pandemic should be elaborated and outlined. For this purpose, comparative situations of pandemical states from the past will be used as a reference. Using the assessment of current problems, future consequences of the pandemic on family formation will be sketched out. This paper seeks to examine the effect of the current pandemic as an exceptional situation on the emergence and formation of a family. This includes a brief outline of psychological health and its impact on relationship stability, fertility intentions, financial hardship, and effects on the quality of a marriage and the consequences of divorce.