For those who have walked down the aisle more than once, remarrying can bring a new lease of life.

But tying the knot multiple times is better for women than it is for men, according to research, as it buffers women’s health, helps them financially and gives their children a better chance of survival.

The same cannot be said for men, however. Their fitness was found to drop the more spouses they clocked up and they produced fewer surviving children.

Study author Professor Monique Borgerhoff Mulder said: ‘Our work suggests marrying multiply may be a wise strategy for women where the necessities of life are hard.’

The study analysed births, deaths, marriages and divorces of 2,000 people in a west Tanzanian village where swapping partners is typical. Benefit was measured in terms of numbers of surviving children.

The research, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, was a surprise as men typically gain more re-productively from having many partners.

Professor Mulder, from the University of California, Davis, said the study ‘forces us to consider female strategies in multiple mating’.