People say that love is blind, but one survey claims that age difference can determine the longevity of your relationship.
The idea of meeting someone significantly older (or younger) than you still raises quite a few reactions.
Specific case: buzz about Leonardo DiCaprio's dating history or Robert De Niro who recently became a father at the age of 79. De Niro's partner, Tiffany Chen, is 45, while DiCaprio, 48, is known to prefer dating people under the age of 25. When 45-year-old French President Emmanuel Macron was elected in 2017, the world was shocked by the fact that his wife, Brigitte Trogneux, was 25 years older than the now 70-year-old.
While there are always exceptions to the rule, research has shown that relationships with specific age gaps are more likely to end in separation. According to a study conducted by Emory University in Atlanta, the greater the age difference, the greater the possibility of separation.
After analyzing data from 3000 people, researchers found that couples with a five-year age difference are 18% more likely to divorce than people of the same age.
This percentage increases to 39% for couples with an age difference of 10 years and to 95% for those "separated" by two decades. For those 30 years apart, the likelihood of divorce is 172% higher than peers.
So what is the ideal age difference?
As for the "ideal" age gap, contrary to popular belief that couples need to be several years apart for a relationship to blossom, researchers believe it's one year. In this case, the chances of separation are only 3%, compared to a couple of the same age or a couple with many years of age difference.
The longer the couple is together, the lower the chances of divorce. Specifically, those who counted five years of relationship were 76% less likely to break up.