This Weekly Routine Is Statistically Proven to Save Your Relationship

Couples, listen up!

Shunevych Serhii

Keeping a relationship healthy is like walking a tightrope: it requires balance, years of practice, and is frequently performed in front of a large, carnival-attending crowd. Actually, scratch that last part.

Schedules can be hectic, and if you’re raising kids, you barely have enough time to sleep, let alone give your relationship plenty of extra love. But a new study from the University of Virginia has found that designating a slot of time each week for “date night” can work wonders for keeping a relationship healthy.

Now, this might just seem like common knowledge. Date nights simulate a simpler time, back when you had a funny hairdo, a leather jacket, a mint condition Chevy El Camino, and no little ones running around. But the numbers back up the concept; couples who dedicated at least one time each week just to each other were 3.5 times more likely to report being “very happy.” Need some inspiration? Check out these date night ideas that are way better than a Netflix binge.

The benefits expand beyond just happiness. The predicted probability of divorce dropped by 11 percent for husbands, and seven percent for wives when the couple allowed time for date night.  Couples were also 3.5 more likely to report above average sexual satisfaction (unlike young people), higher levels of communication, and 2.5 times stronger feelings of “commitment” to the relationship.

The report was published as a part of the The National Marriage Project and surveyed over 1,600 married couples aged 18-55.

The numbers do also say that American couples are having less sex, so maybe go see a movie with your manacle sometime?

[Source: Fox 8 Cleveland]