In Love? It's Not Enough to Keep a Marriage, Study Finds

[-Cp]

Living happily ever after needn't only be for fairy tales. Australian researchers have identified what it takes to keep a couple together, and it's a lot more than just being in love.

A couple's age, previous relationships and even whether they smoke or not are factors that influence whether their marriage is going to last, according to a study by researchers from the Australian National University.

The study, entitled "What's Love Got to Do With It", tracked nearly 2,500 couples — married or living together — from 2001 to 2007 to identify factors associated with those who remained together compared with those who divorced or separated.

It found that a husband who is nine or more years older than his wife is twice as likely to get divorced, as are husbands who get married before they turn 25.

Children also influence the longevity of a marriage or relationship, with one-fifth of couples who have kids before marriage — either from a previous relationship or in the same relationship — having separated compared to just nine percent of couples without children born before marriage.

Women who want children much more than their partners are also more likely to get a divorce.

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,532491,00.html?test=latestnews

[Abbey Marie]

This is the most overwhelming stat they mentioned:


Also, partners who are on their second or third marriage are 90 percent more likely to separate than spouses who are both in their first marriage.


Those are some steep odds.

[PostmodernProphet]

I don't buy any of this research....there is only one factor that determines whether or not a marriage is going to last and it has nothing to do with love or smoking or anything else....it is simply a factor of both parties intending to remain married, regardless of good, bad, or indifference......

[Abbey Marie]

I don't buy any of this research....there is only one factor that determines whether or not a marriage is going to last and it has nothing to do with love or smoking or anything else....it is simply a factor of both parties intending to remain married, regardless of good, bad, or indifference......

That is ultimately true. There is no doubt that people lately find it easier to actually walk away, than they did in the past. But I think the study is trying to elucidate what factors are likely to make people lean towards separation/divorce in the first place.

[hjmick]

Those are some steep odds.

Though not insurmountable. This is my second marriage and my wife's fourth (though one of those was for immigration purposes... not hers) and we've never been happier.


Probably because we both smoke and I am eight years younger.

[Abbey Marie]

Though not insurmountable. This is my second marriage and my wife's fourth (though one of those was for immigration purposes... not hers) and we've never been happier.


Probably because we both smoke and I am eight years younger.

And probably a good amount of knowing yourself, and what to avoid in a spouse.

[hjmick]

And probably a good amount of knowing yourself, and what to avoid in a spouse.

So true. And neither one of us wants to change the other.