Do you and your significant other love to drink together? Great news - this means your relationship has a much better chance of lasting long term.

A new study has found that in heterosexual U.S. couples over the age of 50, women were much more dissatisfied with their relationship when they were the only drinker.

“We’re not sure why this is happening, but it could be that couples that do more leisure time activities together have better marital quality,” said Dr Kira Birditt, who studies relationships across adulthood and authored the report.

The research, published in Journals of Gerontology B: Psychological Sciences, used survey responses from 2,767 married couples, where they answered questions about how much they drank. The couples were married for an average of 33 years, and reported greater dissatisfaction if the woman was the lone drinker in the relationship.

It’s not hard to see why this happens. Nobody likes to drink alone, especially when you’re in the company of the person you love the most. Fighting with a partner about alcohol consumption is tedious.

The research found that overall, couples had long marriages if they both abstained, too. So whether or not you’re a drinker, it’s best to get on the same page if you want your relationship to last.

Not that any of us really needed another excuse to open up another bottle of wine, but it's great to know that a bit of partying is good for your relationship in the long run.

Remember, if you don't have a partner, you can always drink with your cat. Bottoms up!