They love their partners and the relationship is fine, yet many couples no longer want to share a bed at night. The trend has a name, “sleep divorce”, and surveys suggest it is growing around the world.
A 2025 survey by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) found that 31 percent of adults in the United States had at some point slept in a separate bed or another room from their partner to avoid sleep problems.
A 2025 global survey by ResMed, a sleep technology company, gathered the views of more than 30,000 people in 13 countries. It found that 78 percent of respondents in India had slept apart from their partner at some point in their lives. In China and South Korea the figures were 67 and 65 percent respectively. These numbers do not measure couples who sleep apart regularly; they are the share of people who reported having done so.
Why couples decide to sleep apart
A partner’s snoring, frequent tossing and turning, different bedtimes or disagreements over the room temperature can all disturb a night’s sleep. The ResMed survey also named a partner’s snoring and breathing problems among the main causes of disrupted sleep.
For many people, then, sleeping apart is not a luxury but a way to find physical and mental relief.
Does sleeping apart mean less love?
That belief does not match reality. A report by the US-based Sleep Foundation said 53 percent of people who had slept apart from their partner reported that the quality of their sleep improved. In other words, many people rest better when they sleep apart.
That does not mean everyone wants to stay apart. Some return to the same bed because they miss their partner’s closeness or the habit of sleeping together.
A review published by the Sleep Research Society also said there is no scientific certainty that sharing a bed is the only condition for a good marriage. Closeness in a relationship depends on mutual understanding, communication and care for each other.
So before deciding to sleep apart, an open conversation between the two is essential. If one partner forces the decision on the other, it can create distance in the relationship. But couples who sleep apart by mutual agreement can still spend time together during the day, talk and stay close.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report