Do younger women prefer older men

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Article about do younger women prefer older men:
So why do people still judge couples who are many years apart?";"Age gaps: The relationship taboo that won't die. A viral chart from 2019 keeps popping up on social media: a graph detailing Leonardo DiCaprio’s dating history. A Reddit user had spotted a trend – although the actor was 44 at the time
he seemingly only dated women aged 25 or younger
always breaking up with partners before they reached their 26th birthday.

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Responses to the chart were mixed
some commended DiCaprio for his ability to attract younger women
while others berated the veteran actor
begging him to find someone closer to his own age. Even at three years old
the chart continues to resurface
as commentators keep a keen eye on DiCaprio’s current relationship with 24-year-old Camila Morrone. The reactions to the actor’s dating habits embody the contentious views surrounding age-gap relationships – for some
they are a source of admiration
while for others
there is something inherently unsettling about coupling up with a much younger person. From Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher
to George and Amal Clooney
high-profile age-gap relationships have always set tongues wagging. Although in 2014 the average age difference in US heterosexual relationships was a relatively small 2.3 years
many couples have a much wider gap. In Western countries
around 8% of male-female couples have an age-gap of 10 years or more
rising to 25% in male-male unions and 15% of female-female relationships. For some the gap is even larger – data suggests that around 1% of heterosexual couples in the US have an age difference of 28 years or more. Our views around age-gap relationships are shaped by thousands of years of evolutionary psychology
and generations of social and cultural norms. Within the last hundred years
economic shifts and increased gender equalities have changed what is considered a �normal’ age-gap
and recent social justice movements have increased scrutiny of power dynamics in mixed-age relationships. Couples with large age gaps often face judgement
and while some experts believe that this could be about to change
others argue that young people could be becoming more disapproving of mixed-age love than ever before. An evolutionary nudge. Those who find DiCaprio’s dating habits distasteful aren’t without good reason. Aversions to age-gap relationships are very common and
like most taboos
they stem from thousands of years of evolution as well as more recent social and cultural cues. “In many cultures
it is not considered acceptable to fall in love with someone who is much older or younger than you
” says Dr Elena Touroni
a consultant psychologist and co-founder of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic in London. “From an evolutionary perspective
the drive to have a family can have an impact on who we choose to have a relationship with – both from a biological perspective but also in the sense of both parents being alive to raise the child.” In many cultures
it is not considered acceptable to fall in love with someone who is much older or younger than you - Dr Elena Touroni. For both men and women
fertility tends to decline after the age of about 35
and though women lose their ability to conceive much more rapidly
it makes sense that we’ve evolved to be attracted to people who are similarly aged. Although there is relatively little data on age in LGBTQ+ relationships
we know that age-gaps among same-sex couples are much more common
perhaps reflecting how much the ability to biologically conceive together influences how we approach finding a partner. It’s not just about parenting
however. Pairing up with someone of a similar age makes your relationship more likely to go the distance
research shows. Experts believe that this is because these couples tend to go through life challenges and stages at a similar time
and can therefore continue to find common ground. “In the initial 10 years of marriage
people report higher levels of marital satisfaction when their partner is younger than them
” says Grace Lordan
an associate professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics
who is currently researching age-gap relationships and happiness. “However
over time
the marital satisfaction of different-aged couples declines more than similar-aged partners. The probability of similar-aged couples divorcing is also lower.” Yet despite these factors nudging us towards partners of the same age
socio-economic circumstances can sometimes counteract evolutionary urges. In 1900
the average age-gap between couples was about double the gap in 2000
historically people (particularly those in the middle- and upper-classes) would have been much more likely to marry someone far older or younger than them. The reasons for this are both biological and economic. If a 50-year-old man wants to have children
it is not in his interest to couple up with a similarly-aged woman who is much less likely to still be fertile. In a patriarchal society in which men have the economic power
the choice to pair up with a much younger woman would be more likely to be available to him. In the 19th and early 20th Centuries
most women were excluded from the workforce
so it made sense for them to prioritise marrying someone who had already achieved financial security. For men
it made sense to establish themselves economically and worry about marriage at a later date – when due to their increased social power they were able to find younger wives who provided the best chance of having children. Whom we judge and why. As women have gained greater economic power
however
the appeal of a much-older spouse has fallen
making age-gap relationships less common – and often more taboo. These days
even as most societies embrace increasingly progressive views on love
relationships and the rich variety of ways they can present
couples where one person is much older than the other still face judgement. Rather than assume people are happily together
there's a tendency to worry about possible power imbalances
and view the relationship as transactional
assuming one party is seeking to elevate their social status or wealth. There's even specific vocabulary to aid that judgement
an older man must be a �sugar daddy’
a younger woman a �gold-digger’ or victim of �daddy issues’. The relationship between Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron
married since 2007
has been scrutinised in the media (Credit: Alamy) In recent years
that vocabulary has been expanded to include relationships in which women are the significantly older partner
words like �cougars’ and �toyboys’ reflect the rise in this kind of relationship. Statistics show that in 1963 just 15% of UK brides were older than their grooms. By 1998
this had risen to 26%
and findings from one 2011 study suggested that the number of women married or cohabiting with a man five years or younger had almost tripled since the 1970s. Women who choose to date younger men seem to face a disproportionate amount of judgement. “Us humans are judgemental
and if what our neighbour is doing is misaligned with what we expect
we put a spotlight on it
” says Lordan. “Women who match with younger men go most against the grain when it comes to our narrative of marriage
and so suffer the most judgement.” The media attention that surrounded French President Emmanuel Macron’s marriage to a woman 24 years his senior
or the fevered coverage of 41-year-old Kim Kardashian’s relationship with 28-year-old Pete Davidson only underlines this. Yet Touroni believes that older men/younger women relationships are now perceived with even more judgement than older women/younger men couples. This is perhaps in part linked to the #MeToo movement
which placed increased attention on power dynamics in relationships. Some argue a significant age-gap
combined with the social and economic power that men wield in a male-dominated society
can leave young women in a vulnerable position. One study conducted shortly after #MeToo took hold shows that many outsiders believe that there’s an aspect of exploitation in age-gap relationships.