Relationships may suffer due to too much age difference: Study

According to a recent, couples with large age difference are less likely to be satisfied in their marriage.

According to The Independent, Using research from thousands of Australian households, the research found that couples who were closer in age were more in sync on a number of life-changing decisions such as when to have children and spending habits, which make them more compatible in the long run.

The team also found that husbands and wives who were closer in age were better equipped to overcome crisis together such as sudden economic decline.

However, out of those surveyed, the men who were married to younger wives were the happiest.

Co-author of the study, Dr Terra McKinnish cited this finding as "not so surprising".

However, men married to older wives were the least content in their marriages in the long run.

James Preece, dating expert, noted, "If there is too much of an age gap you run risk of both of you wanting different things in life.

One might want to travel while the other has already done that for example. Maturity levels can vary dramatically and arguments about jealousy and money can be common."

Ultimately it's all about a happy balance. It can work if you are both willing to compromise and learn from each other.

What did surprise researchers was that women who married to older husbands were also deeply unsatisfied whilst those who married younger men were far more content.

Thus, the study showed that both men and women prefer a younger spouse.

In spite of this, marriages where both parties were closer in age proved the most successful.

"If you look at marriages over time, the people who are married to a much older or younger spouse tend to have larger declines in marital satisfaction compared to spouses who are similar in age," McKinnish explained in a Boulder university podcast.

The study was initiated in 2001 and participants' marital satisfaction was measured every year. 

-ANI