Key to a happy marriage is a hard working husband The authors of the study wrote: "The greater income brought in by men's longer hours may be protective of women's health. In contrast, men whose wives work moderately long hours are particularly less likely to spend as much time on vigorous exercise or sports, such as running, swimming, or bicycling. The findings were based on the relationships of 4000 middle aged men and women from 1979 to 2004 which were used to evaluate the effect of rising gender equality in the labour market since the 1970s upon family life. Wives whose husbands worked more than 50 hours a week boasted the highest health rating while men whose wives worked between 41 and 49 hours got the lowest scores. Hardworking women were less likely than men to earn enough money to pay for a cleaner so stay-at-home husbands had to manage all the household chores while wives with husbands working long hours had a greater chance of benefiting from domestic help, freeing up their time to exercise, the team from the Universities of Texas and Indiana concluded. Campaign group Mothers At Home Matter said: "This underlines the true value of the work which women have traditionally done. It remains a huge and all-consuming job. However, a recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggested families which fit the traditional mould, with a stay-at-home mother and father who works, are now more likely to live below the poverty line than any other model. The proportion of women working at least 45 hours a week has risen to 10.5 from 9.5 per cent in 2009 while for men it has risen from 19 to 19.6 per cent.