RESEARCH CENTRE: You should marry your age mate – study
The researchers found that when a couple is within the same age group, then they are more in sync with each other’s needs and decisions like having children, for example, and thus better able to deal with the challenges that come up in the relationship. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- Another factor that the researchers unearthed is that if a couple has a large age gap, then they are unable to cushion each other from economic shocks such as sudden job loss or a worsening economic status.
Cross-generational relationships are at an all-time high in Kenya. However, if the findings of a new study are telling us anything, it is that is probably the wrong way to find long-term happiness.
For the study, researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder used 13 years’ worth of data collected from households all over Australia. Every year, the study subjects were reviewed and asked questions with regard to their life satisfaction. They looked at 7, 682 households collectively comprising 19,914 individuals.
The male participants admitted to feeling happy being married to younger spouses. On the other hand, men who were married to older women were found to be least happy in their marriages. Women who were married to older men also reported dissatisfaction in their marriages while those married to younger husbands were found to be the happiest.
On analysing these findings, which have been published in the Journal of Population Economics, the researchers found that in the face of economic constraints, marriages where there is a big age gap crumble easily. They also found that while both men and women might be happier with having a younger spouse, this happiness is short lived and goes sour within six to 10 years.
THE EXPLANATIONS
The researchers found that when a couple is within the same age group, then they are more in sync with each other’s needs and decisions like having children, for example, and thus better able to deal with the challenges that come up in the relationship. The age gap on the other hand comes with varying levels of maturity.
Another factor that the researchers unearthed is that if a couple has a large age gap, then they are unable to cushion each other from economic shocks such as sudden job loss or a worsening economic status. “If there is too much of an age gap, you risk the two of you wanting different things from life. One might want to travel while the other has already done that, for example” the study authors write.
