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The practice of "marrying up" might be looked down upon by some, but when you're talking age, it might be the key to a happy marriage. A recent study showed that the couples who were the happiest and had the lowest divorce rate were those where the woman was at least five years younger than her husband -- and when she's better educated.But it doesn't work both ways. The same study claims that when the wife is older by five or more years, the couple is three times more likely to break up than if they're the same age. (We're looking at you, Demi.)
Does this mean that men with younger wives are destined to be happy? Perhaps. Another factor might be that we're getting better at staying together; at least that's what a different poll conducted by The Times of London stated: 54 percent of those polled hadn't even considered having an affair.
What's the key to remaining faithful? Pretty obvious: a decent amount of sex. Of the respondents, 44 percent said they had sex at least once a week and 32 percent are having it two to four times a month. Two percent of the couples, who are obviously a little more limber, are having sex every day.
But that doesn't mean everyone is remaining faithful. Compare the U.K. research with a 1991 survey from this side of the pond conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The study found 22 percent of married men confessed to being unfaithful, while only 10 percent of married women admitted the same. In 2006, the same survey by the NORC found that 16.7 percent of women admitted to infidelity -- a dramatic increase.
What makes a person cheat on their partner? It's a deeply personal issue, but according to Dr. Lauren Rosewarne, quoted in The Times, "People cheat to feel younger, different or challenged."
Maybe, for those couples facing an age gap -- and possibly an intelligence one, too -- those extra years are enough to make the difference.
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Tuesday 27 October
By ?
Cool concept but I really wonder about its valitdity. My wife is a year older. Sex is every other month or longer and yet we have a good realtionship. and have been together 21 yrs now. For sure the younger girl has more tooffer in the bedroom but I doublt the rest of the story is as tantalizing.
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Tuesday 27 October
By Naomi
I agree totally with the economist. I was married to a man for 33 years and it finally ended in divorce. He became a couch potato and always complained that there is nothing to do in Orlando but there is lots of things to do. He just do not have a clue to real happiness in life.
It was just that......a marriage of manipulation, control and his ego. I felt like the economist was talking about my life. Now that I have a younger man he is hell bent on getting me back at all costs but it is too late. I have a wonderful relationship with my new man in my life and we talk candidly about any and all things. It is such a refreshing relationship and I would not change it for the world.
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Tuesday 27 October
By HangDown7
I'm 45 my wife 39. We've been happily married for 20 years now. As with all relationships the flames died down after awhile. What we've found that works for us is "an open relationship". We are not swingers by the way. Having sex with other people for just the "physical pleasure" keeps the exitement going. Of course both people have to be mature enough to realize that when their partner is having sex with someone else, it's not love, just sex. ;)
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Tuesday 27 October
By kualzo
Hey Hangdown7, what's your wife's phone number!
Tuesday 27 October
By TERRIELEA
JUST ANOTHER NAME FOR CHEATING
Tuesday 27 October
By Tikyra Angelique
There is no such thing as an "Open Marriage". Marriage is a monogaomous relationship of one man to one woman. Marriage is a promise between a man and a woman and GOD not being faithful breaks that promise and what remains is NOT marriage just perversion.
Tuesday 27 October
By mary
how can a man asy he has fallen out of love with you but he love you
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Tuesday 27 October
By Jen
My godfather is 45 and has a girl friend who is 23. What I don't like about it is that he goes around saying younger is better to his married friends and for them to find a younger girl because they can go at it all night..then he goes on to say how his girlfriend and him go at it more than 5 times a day, I think he's just bragging and don't believe he's getting it more than 5 times a day cuz hes 45..no way lol. His girlfriend thinks she's the chit and that she's won a prize because she now has him and my godmom. I just don't get it my godmom is educated makes a lot of money he had it good when he was with her, and he made her life misserable and with his new girl friens he's her puppet. My godmom had to work and this girl he's with doesnt and he supports her and her kid from another realationship...go figure. She's uneducated and all she does is have babies so she doesn't have to work . She had two more kids with my godfather and he already has four other kids from two other failed marriages. His girlfriend acts like she's won a prize becase she has him and my godmom doesn't. Shows how ignorant she is. I feel sorry for women who get older i their 40's or 40's and their husbands dumped them like garbage for someone who is younger. There should be a law against that. Most of these woman have invested a lot of years in their marriage, and when their husbands dump them they have no where to go..they find themselves with no financial support, or home because now the young girl friend is being supported financially and other wise by her now soon to be ex. Its scary and sad that some other girl can step into your life and take all away. Its why im finishing school so i don't just depend on the man i marrie financially. If things dont work out I can move on and not find myself in the streets with no job or money.
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Tuesday 27 October
By Bob
WHY GET MARRIED? Statistics prove the marriage-route fails 48% of the time. Would you buy a car that failed 48% of the time? Live, Love, Laugh, but unless you're hopelessly insecure, stay single.
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Tuesday 27 October
By Lu
You mean would I buy a car with a 48% chance of failing, which is less than a 50/50 gamble? A "48% chance of failing" is significantly lower than "failing 48% of the time" when referring to cars because you start a car over and over whereas a relationship (or marriage) either is or isn't. The analogy is flawed. You just sound scared of commitment.
Tuesday 27 October
By Sophia Beckham
I am 10 years 10 months younger than my husband and we are the happiest couple.
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Tuesday 27 October
By Naomi
This comment is to bring clarity to my earlier comment. I ment to say that I was married to an older man of 21 years my senior. We were married when I was only 23 and he wa 44. The first 30 years were really great as he gave me the world but as I got older I realized that true happiness is not just worldly things but a true connection to each other and that we did not have.
This is what I have found with my new love and it is truly wonderful. I am now 58 years old and my ex is 79.
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Tuesday 27 October
By willie
Grandpa always said, "Find one who will swallow and love is sure to follow." He was right!
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Tuesday 27 October
By LA
Tuesday 27 October
By willie
Grandpa always said, "Find one who will swallow and love is sure to follow." He was right!
I really needed that laugh! And to think I let that one get away 30 yrs ago?
How about some statistics or a survey on that????
Tuesday 27 October
By k huddle
Perhaps the study is correct.People,especially men,need very A woman who knows how to make a man feel wanted and can pperform sexually in later years will keep a mans attention..If it takes a younger woman to do this then maby that is key. True love,the kind that is shared between two people that is the most important dynamic between them above anything else survives all.The world can come crashing down but you still have each other so its OK is rare. In this kind of relationship the partners want to keep each other sexually satisfied and enjoy doing so.Life is much more about emotional issues for women than men and the woman who can excite and physically relate to their male partner later in life has the key to get him to relate to them on a much more emotional level thus in turn fulfilling their need for that more emotional relationship. Like I said men need very little,we are wired much less complicated than women.I am a 50 year young male and have wished for that special kind of love all my life but settled for less.Now that a 20 year marriage has ended basicly because of a loss of physical attraction and desire on the female partners part,I wish I had not settled for less than that special unconditional love.Ladies, keep him physically happy and you can get him to do and relate to you on any level that you desire.Any ladies interested in communicating look me up on datematch .com obxharleyrider@aol.com
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Tuesday 27 October
By PossiblyM
The problem with men is that most of them are sexually disfunctional once they hit their 50s (some even in their 40s) and it only goes worse from then on; so a younger mate has many years of sexual frustration in front of her. Followed by one, two or even three decades of old age spent in loneliness as a widow. I used to like older men, but as I approach my 40s, my taste changes and I am looking for someone my own age (although I can easily be with a man a few years younger.)
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Tuesday 27 October
By JJ
This is garbage! There was another study that stated the happiest and most sexually for filled couples were Christian couples that did not engage in premarital sex. Old geezers have been marrying younger women for years. This is not a new trend and I suspect the marriages are no more stable than any other groups.
Isn't that Douglas with wife number two...
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Tuesday 27 October
By fay39
My sister-in-law is a year older than my brother and they've had a happy 60-year marriage and reared 3 kids. I don't think age ahs anything to do with deciding before you marry that you will marry and stay married and marry someone who thinks the same way.
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Tuesday 27 October
By victorj
It is not the age difference but the mind set that make's things work physical aperance has a lot to do with it
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Tuesday 27 October
By RedSpecial16
What many people on here fail to realize is that a) this article is just talking about statistics; it doesn't apply to everyone because EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT, and b) you can't assume that other people will have miserable relationships just because you did... guess why? It's because everyone is different. Stop stereotyping, and if you're going to waste your time being bitter about your relationships, why don't you go blog somewhere and leave this discussion to people who don't want pity?
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