Husband a spare wheel

A THIRD of husbands would gladly spend all their spare time with their wife, but only 20% of wives feel the same, a study has found.

And while six in 10 wives think that spending time away from their husband is healthy for a relationship, the figure falls to below 50% when it comes to men.

The findings prove that men and women see marriage in different ways, according to relationship experts at dating site eHarmony.com, which produced the research.

While men see marriage as a means of gaining companionship, women see it as a way of receiving security and confidence, said Jenni Trent Hughes of eHarmony.

The survey of 1040 married couples also found that a third of wives would find their husbands "annoying" if they were around all the time.

This falls to one in five for husbands when asked the same question about their wives.

 Trent Hughes said: "There seems to be a real difference in the impact of marriage on men and women. To men, marriage produces the intention and desire to become a unit spending all spare time together.

"For women, this is much less important as the security and confidence marriage brings, enables them to blossom as individuals."

The survey found that Friday evening is the time when couples feel happiest, having finished work for the week. – The Daily Telegraph