Love has no major role to play in keeping couples together. In fact, the chances of a couple staying together are affected by age, previous relationships -- and smoking.

That's the conclusion of a new study, which was conducted by researchers at the Australian National University.

To reach the conclusion, boffins spent six years monitoring 2,500 couples who were married or living together, reports The Daily Express.

The study found that money played a major factor in deciding whether a couple stand the test of time.

The study, entitled 'What's Love Got to Do With It', showed that a quarter of partnerships and marriages will end within six years and half will be over within 25 years.

It also found that a husband who is nine or more years older than his wife is twice as likely to get divorced, as are husbands who get married before they turn 25.

Couples were twice as likely to split if the wife had a much stronger preference for children or for more of them. Smoking and drinking rates also contributed to relationship breakdown, the study found.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh