Older men who date younger women may live longer, according to a recent study, but sadly the same cannot be said for older women who date younger men.
Researchers from the University of Stockholm have found that men over the age of 50 who date younger partners have a longer life expectancy than those who date within their own age range. And according to British national statistics, married couples in which the man was older had no greater divorce rates than partners of similar ages. The same statistics revealed that women who waited to wed until after 30 and married someone 10 or more years younger than themselves were more likely to divorce.
A 2010 German study discovered even worse news for women dating men 7 to 9 years younger than themselves. While men’s life expectancy increases by marrying younger wives, women who marry younger men increase their mortality rate by 20 per cent. And a significant age difference for women between their partner, whether older or younger, also lowers her life expectancy. So men are better off marrying younger and women should look for someone close to their own age; that makes the search for an ideal life partner all the more difficult for women.
Why do men benefit from an age gap while women’s health suffers? It is not clear but perhaps society has not come as far as we would like to believe and women marrying younger men or significantly older men can suffer emotionally from breaking from the norm. Women who marry older men can also wind up becoming caregivers which can be stressful and take both an emotional and physical toll.
To read more about age gaps and survival rates, visit the University of Stockholm by following this link.
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