Marital bliss short-lived for spouses with younger partners

Published Wednesday 22 May 2019

By Prof.(Dr.) Saransh Jain 

There are many factors that can put a strain on a marriage - money worries, work stress, the demands of a new baby, to name a few. A new study finds that a large age gap between partners may also take its toll.

Over time, marital satisfaction may fade for couples with large age differences.

Researchers found that while both men and women initially report greater marital satisfaction with a significantly younger spouse, this satisfaction may soon dwindle.

Study authors Wang-Sheng Lee, of the Department of Economics at Deakin University in Australia, and Terra McKinnish, of the Department of Economics at the University of Colorado in Denver, recently published their results in the Journal of Population Economics.

As per a 2013 report from the United States Census Bureau, around 10 percent of heterosexual couples and 21 percent of same-sex couples in the U.S. have a partner who is at least 10 years older.

Talking to Medical News Today, Lee said that there has been little research conducted on how large age gaps between married couples influence marital satisfaction.

He said, "When we found a longitudinal data set that allowed us to examine the evolution of marital satisfaction over time for both men and women in the same marriage, we thought it would be very interesting to do the analysis to see what we find."

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