Smart Wifes Make Good Partners

Men with Educated Wives Live for Longer

The better educated a wife, the longer an average couple will live for, new research has revealed.

A study by scientists at the Stockholm University in Sweden, which was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Healthcare , showed that a woman's schooling can influence the life expectancy of both halves of a couple.

The data analyzed was taken from the 1990 Swedish Census of 1.5 million people aged 30 to 59 and their causes of death for the following 13 years.

Dr Robert Erikson, author of the report, said: "Women traditionally take more responsibility for the home than men do , and, as a consequence, women's education might be more important for the family lifestyle - for example, in terms of food habits - than men's education."

He added that women with a better education may receive better health care - which may also indirectly benefit their partners.

Further findings showed that a man's social status and income had more of an impact on the life expectancy of a woman than her own employment.