What I’m about to say is somewhat anecdotal, but I’m pretty sure it’ll sound familiar to most of you.
I have a few single male friends who are in their 30s and always go for ladies who are in their 20s. And whenever these guys complain about not finding the right person, the women in our friend group roll their eyes and say, “that’s because you’re always going for younger women.”
On the surface this makes total sense: the closer people are in age, the more you’d expect them to have in common: not just with generational likes and dislikes, but also with maturity and experience.
But as it turns out, there might be some wise reasons for hetero men to skew younger when looking for a partner. According to an analysis of sociological and economic findings published in 1843, men who date younger women tend to be healthier and live longer. Sadly, the same isn’t true for women — they’re better off dating men closer to their age.
Granted, that statistic may be more an indication of a preexisting condition than a resulting one: one would imagine that healthier, heartier aging men are more desirable to young women than their less-healthy, less robust counterparts.
1843’s dissection was based on a report by OKCupid (which looked at matches and searches by its users), a study by Britain’s Office of National Statistics, and another by Sven Drefahl of the University of Stockholm. They note that the studies suggest nothing of these individuals’ happiness, which recalls a scene from Annie Hall:
Either way, it’s something to keep on hand for the next time your cocktail chatter turns to the topic of May-December relationships.
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