A study involving more than 2000 women born between 1957 and 1964 questioned their feelings about their marriage over 35 years.

 

During the interviews, students at Brigham Young University in Utah found that in two thirds of marriages, happiness started at high levels but then steadily¹ declined.

 

Women revealed themselves to be most unhappy in their relationships after ten years together.

 

Researchers suggest that this point coincides with when the females are juggling² the biggest workloads³ both in household chores and childcare.

 

But these levels of discord⁴ are short-lived, just five years later, women began to argue much less with their partners.

 

Those who managed to stay together for more than three decades found that their levels of happiness began to grow again, although for most it never reached the same levels as when they first got married.

 

Couples at this stage in their relationship also argued less than they had at any point in their marriage.

 

The researchers linked this upwards⁵ turn in emotion with the point when a couple's children reached the age of financial independence.

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