The Ideal Age Gap For A Succesfull Marriage

The ideal age gap for a lasting marriage is one year or less according to a recent study. According to the study, the bigger the age gap, the shorter the marriage will be (A larger age gap is related to a higher divorce rate).

In fact, a 20 year age difference has the likelihood of nearly 100% that the marriage will end in divorce.

Marriage Age Gap Study

A recent study, “A DIAMOND IS FOREVER” AND OTHER FAIRY TALES: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WEDDING EXPENSES AND MARRIAGE DURATION“, conducted by the Department of Economics at Emory University in Atlanta surveyed over 3,000 married people in the United States.   The study initially analyzed the link between how much you spend on an engagement ring and the length of a marriage.

In case you were wondering, the study found those who spend more on engagement and weddings were more likely to end up divorced.

BUT the numbers were also crunched and found an “inverse” association between the length of a marriage and the age gap between the couples in the study.

Among the findings of a couple’s divorce rate:

• 5 year age gap means a couple is 18% more likely to divorce.
• 1 year age difference the couple has a 3% divorce rate.
• 10 year age difference results in a 39% divorce rate.
• 20 year age difference results in as 95% divorce rate.

Why the higher divorce rate for the larger the age difference?  Well, the generation gap creates a difference of opinion in a lot of things; life values, tastes in music, books, film, income levels, and life experience to name a few.

And let’s not forget sex drive.  The sex drive for women typically goes up as they get older while men’s sexual function goes down.

It’s not all bad news though.  The longer your marriage the less likely you are to divorce.  Among the findings of the study were these marriage milestones:

• Celebrating a 10 year anniversary means you’re 94% less likely to divorce.
• Staying together 2 years couples are 43% less likely to divorce.

One interesting fact is the study also found a connection between marriage age and marriage duration which is positively related; meaning the older the person was when he or she got married, the longer the marriage was likely to last.

Final Thoughts

The study found the best chance of having a successful marriage is to marry someone within a 12-month age difference to yours.  Statistically speaking, you’ll have a 3 percent chance of your marriage ending in divorce if you marry someone your age.

I know plenty of people who have wide age gaps who have been happily married for well over 10 years as well as people who are the same age who ended up divorced.  I’m merely presenting facts.  Numbers are numbers but if you’re old enough to be her dad the odds are against you.

But in the end, this is just a study full of numbers.  Age is meaningless; it’s just a number.  If you’re happy, then be happy.

Feel free to share your thoughts about the ideal age gap for a marriage below.