Open in a separate window about 75% of all married men age 50 or older are married to women more than a year younger than they are; just 10% of all men only 10% of all men are at least one year younger than their wives. In contrast, the majority of married women aged 50 and older (65%) are married to men who are older than them, while just 15% have a spouse who is more than one year younger. For instance, in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, approximately 90% of women ages 15-49 are married at ages 25-29, compared to 80% of men; marriage is almost universal for women aged 30 years or older, and men age 45 years or older (14, 15, 19, 20).
Adhikari showed that, of women 40-49 years in Nepal’s 2006 DHS, those married by 16 years had an average 4.7 children, compared with 5.3 for those married before 16 years (27). Another analysis of data on women aged 25-49 years in DHS data for the last two decades in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan also found that women who married young were more likely to be victims of violence compared to those who married older (16). In all regions, women married younger than men, and both men and women’s median ages at first marriage were gradually increasing.
The average age of first marriage has increased globally by a year for both men and women since 1995. In 2011, the average age at first marriage was at an all-time high – around 29 years old for men, and around 27 years old for women, according to Census Data. The median age at first marriage, which declined during the first half of the 20th century, has been rising ever since.
For decades, average marriage age has hovered around 20, but times appear to be changing. In the U.S., the median marriage age has been rising, too: Many are pointing out that men are now 29, while women are 27. Today, the difference in average marriage ages for Danish men and women is only a little less than at the start of the 20th century.
It shows that, taking into account all marriages, Danish men are, on average, three years older than women when they marry. It shows that the majority of men are between two and three years older than their wives, and most women are two years younger than their husbands. When women are younger married, they tend to have larger age gaps with their husbands, which, in turn, is associated with lower decision-making abilities.
The age gap between the spouses can partly explain why marriage is beneficial to men rather than women. While numerous studies of mate choice suggest that women mostly prefer men who are their own age, the majority end up with a much older husband. While new research shows that most women are disadvantageous at marrying if they are not the same age as their husbands, the same cannot be said for the fact that marriage is generally not advantageous.
Love and Marriage for Men and Women of a Certain Age
About four-in-ten (39%) younger women say having a successful marriage is one of the most important things in their lives, compared with roughly three-in-ten (29%) younger men who say this. Among those who are married, 93% say that love is an extremely important reason for getting married; 84% of those who are not married say this. About six-in-ten men and women (61%) who have never been married say they want to marry, according to Pew Research’s 2010 survey. Among adults who have never been married, 30-to-50-year-olds, men (27%) are more likely than women (8%) to say they do not want to marry.
Men and women do not answer differently overall when assessing how important they think having a successful marriage is for them, but differences emerge for younger adults, those aged 18 to 34. The individual ads also reveal that, although younger men seem to want women that are a bit older, as men get older, they tend to look for partners that are younger than they are, generally (i.e., they are looking for their fertility spike). In online dating, women initiate contact with older men at higher rates than with younger men.
Women tend to get married younger than men, partly due to sexism and the spinster narrative, but also because women are less likely to be educated as much at an early age, much less attend college or be career women. While this is related to marriage age, it is not always equal, since women who get married younger also will also have children later in life.
Endings are a general pattern as men are not just older when they married, they die younger than women as well (Luy 2002). Among people aged 75 years and older who have ever married, 58% of women and 28% of men experience a death in the lifetime of the spouse, making this phase in life especially challenging for older adults.
The span varied from men marrying women at the youngest possible age, at 20, to women marrying men at the youngest possible age, at 25; the median age gap between husband and wife was three years. Yet, of 700 marriages in the Utsjoki, only 10% were between men and women at this optimal age difference.
Perhaps this is why seven in eight men age 50 or older and looking to get married for the first time are married to women who are divorced. According to new research, women marrying partners who are between seven and nine years younger raises the risk of death by 20%.
Women are also typically better off than men; globally, they have life expectancies several years higher than men. The hypothesis is supported by the higher incidence of older men marrying younger women, and the fact that there is far more variability in the ages at which men marry compared to women (Berardo, Appel, & Berardo 1993).
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