Married life is just perfect for some - official

A study of married people and their relationship happiness has found that 89 per cent of couples are happily married, while nearly 20 per cent of them declare that married life is just perfect.

Match-up website eHarmony.co.uk commissioned the study which reveals that in an average week, married couples spend 62 per cent of spare time together.

However, if 27 per cent of husbands had their way, they would spend all of their time with their beloved wife.

Women seem more independent when married with 63 per cent agreeing that spending time apart from their husbands is healthy and 32 per cent of married women claim that they would actually find their partner annoying if he were around all of the time.

Friday evening is the time when most couples feel happiest in their marriage, having finished work and with the prospect of a weekend ahead with their loved one.

According to the eHarmony Index, couples spend 11 hours a week in front of the telly together, compared to just four hours spent romantically.

It’s no surprise then that one of the biggest female gripes is control of the TV remote with 18 per cent of women saying it’s the thing that annoys them most about their man.

For 28 per cent of men however, the prospect of their wives getting ready to go out is most irritating, with another 23 per cent agreeing that their wives’ back-seat driving literally drives them around the bend.

Despite the niggles, the couples were unanimous in agreeing what makes their marriage work: Sharing family values (94 per cent), goals (91 per cent), sense of humour (85 per cent) and outlook on life (80 per cent) were all cited as predictors of a happy and successful life together.

Relationship advice expert Jenni Trent Hughes said: “2012 has been a celebratory year when as a nation we have triumphed, with every moment played out across the TV, so as a whole we’re feeling a lot more positive.

“What’s particularly interesting is how happily married people say they have the same family values, same goals, share a sense of humour and outlook on life, because science tells us that it’s similarity across these core values that will keep us happy in the long term.”