The true secret to a happy relationship.

Being in a couple takes commitment and effort with blips along the way but after all, that is part and parcel of being in a relationship. In saying that, if there is to be a rocky road along the way, how does anyone expect there to be a secret ingredient to make an all round happy relationship? Well, The National Bureau of Economic Research claims to have pinpointed the one characteristic in a couple that guarantees to make it a happy and healthy one. Okay then, what exactly defines a happy partnership? Is it living together? Is it being married? Is it having a big family? No, it's none of those. Economist John Helliwell's paper found that the most important factor in a happy relationship was whether or not you see your partner as your best friend. The paper points out that "social scientists have long known that people who are married tend to be happier but didn't know if it was because marriage brings happiness or because couples who are happier tend to get married." It conducted studies on pre-marriage happiness levels and although it shows that you don't need to married to be a happy couple, it did find that people who were married were happier and more satisfied with their lives than those who remain single - particularly during the most stressful periods, like a mid-life crisis. "What immediately intrigued me about the result was to re-think marriage as a whole," said Mr Helliwell before concluding "maybe what is really important friendship and to never forget that in the push and pull of daily life."