Now love is ditched after three years

THE seven-year itch has become the three-year ditch as relationships crumble earlier with the arrival of children, researchers claim.

A study shows that couples with young children are now most likely to go their separate ways after three years.

Experts say trying to juggle careers and parenting while struggling with changing gender roles is causing relationships to fail.

They also cite a growing trend for couples, who get together later in life, to spend less time getting to know each other before having children. The study by the parenting website Netmums found couples were now four and a half times more likely to split after three years than the traditional seven.

Of those couples who separated, 21 per cent saw their relationship fall apart after they had been together between two and four years. A total of 12 per cent split within a year.

In contrast, only three per cent of couples broke up after seven years.

Having children was accepted as putting the greatest strain on a relation- ship. About 42 per cent of the 1,500 parents questioned said children had driven them apart.

A third said starting a family brought them closer. Yet many of them had children earlier in their relationships.

Siobhan Freegard, 44, the Netmums founder, said: “Relationships are tough at the best of times but having children puts an extra strain on them.

“Often simple tricks, like taking time to listen to each other, can be the key to keeping love alive and remind you why you first fell in love.”