FORGET moping over the empty nest. Once children leave home their parents’ relationship enjoys a new lease of life as they rediscover the joys of coupledom, according to new research.

The researchers, who studied a group of women over 18 years of their lives, found a marked increase in the happiness of their marriages once the children had left.

The finding undermines much conventional wisdom that couples are left feeling miserable and deserted once their children depart for university, work or cohabitation.

The researchers believe women’s increased happiness in their marriage may be helped by the wider range of opportunities open to them than in the past, when many felt that childrearing was their only important role in life.

Sara Gorchoff, the researcher who carried out the study at the University of California, Berkeley, said empty-nesting had taken off as a “popular catchphrase”, but now needed to be reassessed.

“There is this idea that women are bereft when the children leave, but our data suggest that in fact they are happier,” she said.

“It may be that women now have a broader identity, not so focused on bringing up children. They can, for example, go back to their jobs after the children have left home.”

Experts believe changing divorce habits may also be playing a role.

Previously, warring couples would far more often stay together “for the sake of the children”. Now, because the stigma attached to divorce has declined, they are far more likely to split up while the children are still at home. This means that couples who have stayed together are stronger.

Denise Knowles, a senior counsellor at Relate, the relationship advice service, said: “For many couples it is a difficult time, the glue disappears and the cracks that are already there can open wide.

“But for those who have remained strong, they can reestablish themselves as a shared couple. A lot of women absolutely love this, although they also miss their children. They think, ‘Now there’s a little time for me’.”

Simone and Barry Hancox, both 54, from Broadway, Worcestershire, have been child-free for the past two years now that Clementine, 26, Flora, 24, and Edward, 21, have all left home.

Simone said: “The children leaving home has made things between us a lot easier. We miss them and love them but it takes away an awful lot of stress. We argue less. In the past we’d have a row that was precipitated by something the children had done.

“My husband is a lot less stressed now with our [restaurant] business. I’m able to support him rather than be cooking and running around after the children.

“We’ve got a dog now and we have a lot more time to enjoy pleasures like just going for long walks. It sounds awful but it’s a natural progression.”

- Additional reporting: Roger Waite