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Post Info TOPIC: For a Lasting Marriage, Marry Someone Your Own Age


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For a Lasting Marriage, Marry Someone Your Own Age

Even a five-year age difference makes a couple 18 percent more likely to get divorced, compared to a couple born on or around the same year.
 

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Randy Olson

There are many predictors of the success of a marriage, among them the having of money, the having of children, and the length of time a couple spends dating before they tie the knot. Another big predictor, though, is age: The closer a couple is when it comes to their respective birth years, the greater their chances of avoiding divorce.

That's according to a study that compiled polling data from more than 3,000 recently married and divorced Americans. The study—the overall findings of which my colleague Olga Khazan highlighted last month—used a multivariate model to calculate the factors that seemed to best predict the marriage's chances of success. (Or, at any rate, its chances of not ending in divorce.) Its results were visualized by the data scientist Randy Olson, who created a series of charts to illustrate the study's findings.

Generations may be an invention, but they are meaningful nonetheless.

Today, Olson released another set of visuals—the most intriguing of which focuses on the matter of the age gap. A one-year discrepancy in a couple's ages, the study found, makes them 3 percent more likely to divorce (when compared to their same-aged counterparts); a 5-year difference, however, makes them 18 percent more likely to split up. And a 10-year difference makes them 39 percent more likely.

Once you enter large-gap territory—the 20-year difference, the 30-year difference—the odds of divorce are ... almost never in your favor.

If your partner happens to be 15 years older or younger than you are, that's not automatically a bad omen: Statistics, of course, are not destiny. But, as predictors, the study's findings stand to reason. Marriage is, above all, about 50-50 partnership; differences in ages also mean differences in life experience and cultural reference points. Generations may be an invention, but they are meaningful nonetheless. So, with all the necessary caveats about love's vagaries and mysteries, if you want a marriage that lasts, you should probably try to marry someone your own age. Due apologies to Aaliyah



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On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

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I'm not really sure I trust that. I mean if your spouse is 30 years older than you, aren't they likely to die before you can divorce them?

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From my experiance, I have to disagree.

Mom / Dad - 3 yrs age difference - divorced
Dad / W - 14 yrs age difference - still going strong
Bro / W - 2 yrs age difference - a marriage in hell
Sis / exH -1 yr age difference - divorced
Sis / H - 19 yrs age difference - still going strong
Me / exH - 18 months age difference - divorced
DH / exW - same age - divorced
Me / DH - 8 yrs age difference - still going strong


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Vette's SS

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I read a study not to long ago that said a 5 year age difference was the best way to have a successful marriage.

Me and DH are the same age, so I'll go ahead and believe this one :) but still keep in mind that all of these studies are silly.

ETA: Dh and I have been together for 8 1/2 years, still going strong!



-- Edited by NAOW on Monday 10th of November 2014 10:33:12 AM

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Hooker

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ExH: 6 months apart

G: 22 years apart. I will go to the grave with this one...

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At the same time?  wink



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Domestic Engineer wrote:

From my experiance, I have to disagree.

Mom / Dad - 3 yrs age difference - divorced
Dad / W - 14 yrs age difference - still going strong
Bro / W - 2 yrs age difference - a marriage in hell
Sis / exH -1 yr age difference - divorced
Sis / H - 19 yrs age difference - still going strong
Me / exH - 18 months age difference - divorced
DH / exW - same age - divorced
Me / DH - 8 yrs age difference - still going strong


But this study isn't using just 8 examples. It is using THOUSANDS.  It isn't saying that EVERY marriage with a large age difference is doomed--but on AVERAGE, they are more likely to end in divorce.  



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Me and my hubby are 12 years apart.

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my lady and i are eighteen years apart--we've been together over twenty years now--we've never paid attention to the years though as we don't really live a chronological life

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Nothing's Impossible

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I want a guy 15 years younger. I'd keep him!

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burns07 wrote:


my lady and i are eighteen years apart--we've been together over twenty years now--we've never paid attention to the years though as we don't really live a chronological life


What do you mean you don't live a 'chronological life'?  All of our lives are chronological, lol. 



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On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

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Southern_Belle wrote:

I want a guy 15 years younger. I'd keep him!


 COUGAR!



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No thanks. As the years would pass it becomes quite obvious you are much older, doesn't matter how good you look, most people look their age unless they have a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon.

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My girlfriend's husband is 20 yrs older than her. And, he isn't aging very well. So, the differences are much more pronounced.

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Itty bitty's Grammy

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DH1 was 7 years older than me, DH2 is 4 years older. (They are both Taurus')

flan

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