LONDON (Reuters) – Families with twins or triplets are more likely to separate due to the financial burdens involved, according to a survey last week.

Research for Britain's Twins and Multiple Births Association (TAMBA) found that 62 percent of those asked said they were financially worse off after their babies were born, compared with 40 percent of other parents.

In all, 28 percent of parents of twins or triplets separated or divorced, compared with 24 percent of other families.

Families with twins or triplets reported higher levels of material deprivation and were more likely to be unable to afford key items for their children.

"We love our twin boys dearly, but have spent much of the last two years sick with worry, just trying to give them the basics," mother of twins Suzanne Pammen said in a statement released with the results of the survey.

Nine months after giving birth, mothers who had had multiple births were nearly 20 percent less likely to have returned to work than mothers of singletons.