Family dinners in the United States reportedly last 15 minutes longer since COVID-19 broke out, with six in ten people saying that their family gets together for meals more frequently, according to a study of over 2,000 people that was published in StudyFinds last month.
According to the study, families have been gathering for dinner five times a week compared to only four times before the coronavirus pandemic.
58% of people, consisting of mostly millennials, who participated in the study, said that dinnertime is the most relaxing part of the day.
Family meals would also include close friends, neighbors and colleagues, the study states, as many Americans would consider them to be part of the family.
Furthermore, more than two-thirds of Americans in the survey stated that they "added a new family member" during the course of the pandemic.
The study also concluded that since parents have spent more time with their children during the pandemic, it has also created more opportunities for them to bond with their children, by cooking food together, for example, as more than half of American parents in the study have said that cooking with their kids is considered part of the family mealtime.