Working too much does not damage your relationship, new study suggests

Research finds couples compensated for longer working hours by making the most of free time spent together.

(AFP / GETTY IMAGES)

Working longer hours does not automatically make it harder to maintain a romatic relationship, a new report has found.

Researchers from the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations interviewed 285 couple to discover the effect of working hours on their relationships.

They found couples compensated for longer working hours by making the most of free time spent together.

In addition, career-driven people who work long hours accepted they could not have everything they would like in their personal lives.

Published in Human Relations, the researchers wrote:“Conventional wisdom and research seem to suggest that partners in dual career-couples have to decide whether they would rather risk their careers or their romantic relationship...Our research questions the assumption that working longer hours is hazardous for all romantic relationships.”

“Our study attempts to help answer the question of whether dual-career couples [relationships where both partners pursue their careers] should be hesitant to devote many hours to their work when they fear negative relationship consequences.

The research concluded: "Here was no negative association between working time and relationship satisfaction...Our results challenge the common-sense assumption about a negative association between working time and relationship outcomes.'