Relationship

According to new research, this is the ideal age difference in relationships

By Wieke Veenboer | #!31Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:30:19 +0200+02:001931#31Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:30:19 +0200+02:00-4Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam202331 10pm31pm-31Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:30:19 +0200+02:004Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam2023312023Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:30:19 +02003043010pmTuesday=9#!31Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:30:19 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam10#10-10-2023#!31Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:30:19 +0200+02:001931#/31Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:30:19 +0200+02:00-4Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam202331#!31Tue, 10 Oct 2023 16:30:19 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam10#

It probably comes as no surprise that age difference can play a huge role in relationships and has a significant impact on their chances of success. You don't need to be a scientist to know this: if a 25-year-old dates someone nearly 50, the chances are pretty high that they won't grow old together (I almost wanted to make a joke about how one of them already is, but you have quite a few years to go from your fifties — and those will feel extremely long if you're stuck in a sad relationship). Yes Leonardo DiCaprio, looking at you. But thanks to recent research (conducted at Emory University in Atlanta) we can now attach some percentages to that: there is a 95 percent chance that relationships with an age difference of twenty years or more will fail. But well: we could have seen that coming, right? With such a large age difference, you probably have different interests and priorities.

So what is an ideal age difference? You might think that the man in a heterosexual relationship should ideally be a bit older, but according to research, that doesn't have to be the case at all: the perfect age difference would be a maximum of one year (and it doesn't matter who is older). When there is an age difference of five years, the chance of a break-up has already increased by 18 percent. Are you ten years apart? Then you have a 39 percent chance of splitting up.

But when you hardly differ in age (a maximum of one year), that chance is only 3 percent. THREE! So if you're having trouble finding love, you might just be fishing in the wrong age pond. 3 percent, that's almost a guarantee for a happily ever after. Sounds good.