Mind the Gap

If you cruise apps targeting those who want an age gap between them and their partner, like Gaper or AgeMatch, there is some good news in the form of recent research. According to a recent study by researcher Tony Silva in the academic journal Socius, men involved in heterosexual relationships in which their partner is significantly younger – termed age-heterogenous partnerships – have most of the same markers for health and quality of life as their contemporaries with lower age gap partnering. The bad news is that whether you are a current DILF, a daddy, zaddy, papi, or poppa, chances are your younger wife/girlfriend is less satisfied sexually than her peers who are closer to their partner’s age. It seems that there are some things even Viagra cannot fix. Silva’s research also indicated that women partnered with younger man expressed significantly lower satisfaction in their sex lives.

Most heterosexual relationships (the research focused only on these) with sizeable age gaps are between older men and younger women. Gaps of at least 8 years among couples represented just over 9 percent of marriages in 2000, down from nearly 13 percent in 1960. Regardless of whether they are men or women or older or younger, age-gap couples are likely to be less educated than the general public, the theory being that college-educated people spend more time in institutional settings around prospective spouses closer to their own age. Typically, among those with full-time employment, the income gap was greater in marriages in which the man was older. Shocking, we know, but without a lot more data into which to dive, we shall just leave it at that.

The relative rarity in age-gap relationships in the US seems largely due to the women’s movement. Factors like life expectancy have also played a role age-hertogenous partnerships have declined in every decade since the early twentieth century. Of course, that was before the rise of Sugardaddie.com which currently boasts more than 5 million members and its host of imitators in the online ‘dating’ world. So if you are looking for a gold-digger to put through college and then reward with a large life insurance policy before you are given a hefty dose of hemlock in your dotage, you are in luck. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.