Wide age gap between couple increases chances of divorce, study says

Authors:

Ayoola Adetayo

October 22, 2016 3:32 PM

Couples with bigger age difference face the risk of divorce than other couples, according to a research by Emory University, Atlanta, USA.

What is the ideal age difference between married couples?

And how does the age gap affect the relationship of married couples?

In a study recently released by Emory University in Atlanta, it was discovered that increasing the age difference between partners actually increases the chances of the marriage splitting.

What should be the ideal age difference between couples is a question that has divided opinion for a long time.

Some say that once people are physically and emotionally mature, then they can make rational decisions for themselves, as expected of all adults, so they can decide who or not to marry, regardless of the age difference.

ALSO READ:Here are good reasons why women should marry really early

Many others believe that the man should be older than the woman, and only with few years.

If, on the other hand, a man decides to marry a woman that is significantly older, he is probably a gold-digger and the woman, a cougar or sugar mummy.

Now, according to the study which involved 3000 people, when there is a large age difference between a couple, they face a very high risk of the marriage crashing. This is, of course, in addition to facing negative comments from the society.

In fact the research says there is a 30% increased chance of divorce for such couples, as compared to those who have just a little age difference between them.

According to the research, if you and your beau are about five years apart in age, the risk of divorce is 18%.

If the difference increases to 10 years, then the chances of divorce goes up to 39%!

And for those with an age difference as huge as 20 years, they face a whopping 95% divorce chance!

So what’s the ideal age difference between couples?

The result of the study suggests that the best is if there is only one year separating you and your partner.

This is because according to them, marrying someone only one year older or younger than you decreases your chances of splitting to just 3%!