Want better sex? Have more equal relationships

Couples who split childcare equally have better sex lives, research has suggested.

Researchers looked at the 2006 Marital and Relationship Study, where couples were asked to complete a survey with a range of questions including to what extent they shared housework and childcare, as well as the quality of their sex lives.

Dr Daniel Carlson, assistant professor of sociology at Georgia State University, and his colleagues found that where women did more than 60 per cent of the childcare, both partners reported having less satisfactory sex - but where each partner did between 40 and 60 per cent of the childcare, both partners reported better sex lives.

How housework was shared was not found to have an impact, nor was if men did more than 60 per cent of childcare.

Dr Carlson, presenting his findings at a meeting of the American Sociological Association, said:"One of the most important findings is that the only childcare arrangement that appears really problematic for the quality of both a couple's relationship and sex life is when the woman does most or all of the childcare."

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