50+ women are more irritable in marriage than men

A Saga survey of 800 50+ women and men shows that women are for more annoyed with their men than the other way around.

Four in five women admitted they found certain aspects of their husband's behaviour irritating.

Men are more forgiving, with four in ten (40 per cent) finding nothing irritating about their spouse.

In total, only one in five people (22 per cent) said that nothing irritates them about their spouse.

The survey comes in the run-up to Christmas – one of the few times throughout the year when many couples spend a significant amount of time at home together.

The biggest frustration for men was their wives always wanting to do things their own way (19 per cent) and their wives making arrangements without consulting them (14 per cent).

The survey looks at the common complaints in marriage for the over-50s.

The top five for women include:

*Being taken for granted (26 per cent)

*Having an untidy partner (24 per cent)

*Their husbands insisting on always doing things their own way (24 per cent)

*Their husbands leaving all the housework to them (17 per cent)

*Their husbands undermining them in front of others (13 per cent)

Helping out with the housework shows the widest difference in attitudes with just two per cent of men admitting this was a cause of friction compared to 17 per cent of women.

Despite these findings, the over 50s couples still enjoy being with each other as more than three quarters (83 per cent) believe that spending time together is the most important aspect of marriage.