Thursday, November 4, 2010

Women Marrying Younger Men at Risk of Dying Young

A research has revealed that women who marry younger men are at an increased risk of dying at a young age. Women who marry men seven to nine years younger than their age are likely to increase their mortality rate by 20%.

Interestingly, men who marry younger women tend to improve their life expectancy rates. This study was undertaken by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany.

Earlier studies have confirmed that men with younger wives have increased life expectancy rates and researchers assumed that the same would hold true for women also.

The study found that in the case of women the more the age difference with their husband the lower her life expectancy will be. This is regardless of the fact that she is younger or older compared to her husband.

The researchers studied data from around 2 million Danish couples for the study. They felt that the best thing for a woman is to marry a man of exactly the same age.

It was also argued that it is doubtful if a woman benefits either socially or psychologically by marrying a younger man. The reason for this is that women marrying younger men faced a lot of stress and receive much lesser support as it was perceived that they have violated social norms with their actions.

The study was undertaken by Sven Drefahl from Stockholm University's Demography Unit and a Ph. D. candidate at Rostock University. The study is published in the May 12 issue of the journal Demography.

Source: www.topnews .co.uk

No comments: