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Separation is more common among couples with a large age difference than for couples of the same age, a study shows.
Couples where the man is at most two years older are at the lowest risk.
The study from Stockholm University shows that for Swedish couples the risk of separation is greater if the man is older than the woman. For couples with an immigrant background, it is the opposite. Common is that if the age difference is at least six years, more people go their separate ways.
“We saw, for example, that women who have an older partner are younger when they have children, have less education and earn less money before they become mothers. It could also reflect differences in values, but future studies will have to take a closer look at that,” says Caroline Uggla, researcher in demography at Stockholm University in a press release.
However, the results remained even when the researchers corrected for education levels and age at first child.
“It may happen that there is a cost in breaking the social norms around couple relationships that prevail in one’s group, and that this is reflected in the relationship breaking up. But it is also possible that those who dare to break norms also have a lower threshold to then leave the relationship,” says Uggla in the press release.
The group with the lowest risk of separation are couples where the man is no more than two years older than the woman. It is also the most common age difference in Sweden.
Facts
So the study was done
The researchers used statistics from Statistics Norway and looked at heterosexual women who had their first child between 1997 and 2015, and who were still living with the child’s father a year after the birth.
Women who lived in Sweden for less than five years were excluded from the sample.
Separation was defined as no longer being registered at the same address.
Source: Stockholm University
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