Woman looking up from book in libraryIf Cockney rhyming slang is anything to go by, then the 'trouble and strife' is more likely to send a chap to an early grave than keep him healthy.

But not so, say scientists, who have discovered that men who marry clever women have a better chance of a longer life.Of course, that's not down to the scintillating conversation. No, it turns out that a well-educated woman is better able to make sensible decisions when it comes to health and nutrition.

Experts at Stockholm University examined data from a 1990 Swedish Census on 1.5 million employed people aged between 30 and 59. And those lucky chaps with highly educated wives were found to have an increased life span.

The study, published in the Journal of Epidermiology and Community Health, said: "Women traditionally take more responsibility for the home than men do, and, as a consequence, women's education might be more important for the family lifestyle – for example, in terms of food habits – than men's education.

"If highly educated women more easily understand the plethora of advice about healthy lifestyles, women's education could have a substantial influence on the health and mortality of the partner.

For the chaps, on the other hand, it was income that proved the most important. Seemingly the breadwinner's high income teamed with the wife's ability to make informed decisions around the home make for the healthiest of couples.

We would never have guessed.