Living happily ever after needn't only be for fairy tales. Australian researchers have identified what it takes to keep a couple together, and it's a lot more than just being in love.

    A couple's age, previous relationships and even whether they smoke or not are factors that influence whether their marriage is going to last, according to a study by researchers from the Australian National University.

    The study, entitled "What's Love Got to Do With It," tracked nearly 2,500 couples - married or living together - from 2001 to 2007 to identify factors associated with those who remained together compared with those who divorced or separated.

    It found that a husband who is nine or more years older than his wife is twice as likely to get divorced, as are husbands who get married before they turn 25.

    Children also influence the longevity of a marriage or relationship, with one-fifth of couples who have kids before marriage - either from a previous relationship or in the same relationship - having separated compared to just nine percent of couples without children born before marriage.

    Women who want children much more than their partners are also more likely to get a divorce.

    A couple's parents also have a role to play in their own relationship, with the study showing some 16 percent of men and women whose parents ever separated or divorced experienced marital separation themselves compared to 10 percent for those whose parents did not separate.

    Also, partners who are on their second or third marriage are 90 percent more likely to separate than spouses who are both in their first marriage.

    Not surprisingly, money also plays a role, with up to 16 percent of respondents who indicated they were poor or where the husband - not the wife - was unemployed saying they had separated, compared with only nine percent of couples with healthy finances.

    And couples where one partner, and not the other, smokes are also more likely to have a relationship that ends in failure.

    Factors found to not significantly affect separation risk included the number and age of children born to a married couple, the wife's employment status and the number of years the couple had been employed.

    The study was jointly written by Dr Rebecca Kippen and Professor Bruce Chapman from The Australian National University, and Dr Peng Yu from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

    两人相爱后快乐地在一起生活并不是神话。澳大利亚研究人员发现了维系一段感情需要什么，它要的不仅仅是爱。

    一对夫妇的年龄，以前的婚姻状况，甚至他们是否吸烟，都是影响他们婚姻能否持久的关键，根据澳大利亚国立大学研究人员的研究成果。

    这个研究课题叫"什么样的爱才能满足一段婚姻",追踪了2500名夫妇---结婚或同居---从2001到2007,通过比较一直生活在一起的伴侣和离异，或者分手的伴侣两者之间的联系来找出原因。

    它发现比妻子大9岁，或大于9岁的丈夫离婚的可能性是男的25岁前就结婚的2倍。

    孩子同样也影响到一段婚姻的持久性或两人亲密程度，在结婚前就有孩子的夫妇---无论来自以前一段婚姻或者同一段婚姻---离婚的有20%,而结婚前没有孩子的夫妇只有9%.

    女方比男的更急着要孩子离婚的可能性也大为增加。

    夫妇双方的父母在他们婚姻关系中也有影响，研究表明父母曾经离异的夫妇双方有16%离婚，而父母不曾离婚的只有10%.

    同样，是第二或第三次婚姻的配偶比第一次婚姻的配偶，离婚的可能性高90%.

    不足为奇的是，金钱同样对婚姻有影响，婚姻案中的被告指出他们很穷，或者在丈夫---不是妻子，被解雇的地方说他们要离婚的有16%,而有良好财务状况的夫妇只有9%.

    而夫妇只有一方吸烟的也更为可能以失败的婚姻告终。

    结婚夫妇拥有孩子的多少和年龄，妻子就业率，夫妇工作的时间，这些因素对离婚的风险不会有太大的影响。

    这个研究成果是由来自澳大利亚国立大学的乐思·其朋博士，和来自家庭、住房、社区服务和土着事务部门的彭语博士共同着述的。