How often women should have sex to be their happiest revealed in major study
Women rated their relationship satisfaction highest if they had sex at least once a week, with 85 per cent pleased with their lot.
That compared to 66 per cent for wives and girlfriends who got it on once a month, and 17 per cent who did it less than that.
Study author Alexandra Janssen, from the University of Manchester, said: 'Women having sex less than once a week were far less likely to be satisfied in their sexual relationships.
"Therapists working with women to improve their sexual relationship satisfaction might focus on increasing the frequency of sex.'
The study questioned 483 women in New Zealand who had been in a relationship within the past year.
Just over half — 56 per cent — said they were sexually satisfied.
Results showed that satisfaction was higher if they had sex more often, had more orgasms, rated sex as an important aspect of their life and were younger.
About six in ten Brits have sex less often than once a week, polling by YouGov shows.
Ten per cent say they get lucky weekly and about another 15 per cent claim to do it more often.
Writing in the International Journal of Sexual Health, Ms Janssen said: 'Sexual intimacy plays an important role in romantic relationships.
'In our study, less frequent sex was associated with a lower likelihood of sexual relationship satisfaction. Women who reported having sex one to two times a month were approximately three times less likely to be satisfied than those having sex two or more times a week.
The benefits of having sex
'This effect was even more pronounced for women who reported having sex less than once a month, who were 25 times less likely to be satisfied.'
Women aged 18 to 24 were most likely to be sexually satisfied and over-45s least likely.
Those who rated sex as very important also had happier love lives than those who did not.
Ms Janssen said: 'It seems unlikely that low self-rated importance of sex causes low sexual satisfaction. That may cause women to rate the importance of sex as low as a coping strategy.'
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