Experts claim that having regular date nights can help to keep married couples together

COUPLES who have regular date nights are more likely to stay together, a new study has claimed.

The Sunday Times reports that married partners who set time aside for a monthly date night are 14% more likely to still be together a decade later.

But whilst a spot of monthly "us time" is essential for relationships to flourish, weekly dates have no extra benefits,  according to researchers at the Marriage Foundation.

The group, which is dedicated to working out why relationships fail, also found that dedicated date nights are more important for married couples than they are for couples who are just living together.

Further research by the foundation also painted a bleak picture for young couples, who were found to be struggling to keep the spark alive despite the pressures of their hectic, everyday lives.

And date nights could be the solution for many of Britain's miserable married couples, with the Office for National Statistics claiming that over 1 million Brits are stuck in "deeply unhappy" relationships.

But squeezing in the monthly time together is proving to be difficult for many couples - even though the Obamas and the Camerons famously manage to slot in frequent date nights.

Of the 9,969 couples surveyed, just 11% managed a weekly date night, whilst 30% slotted in a monthly date.

Meanwhile a depressing 36% of couples struggled to find time for date nights at all.