How Much Is Age a Factor in a Marriage?

I am almost fifteen years older than my husband. And have been married almost eighteen years!!! And it has been fun!!! And yes we still... well you know...

I am 6.5 years older than my husband. It was not an issue when we married because I was 33. If I had been younger, it might have been. I tried dating older men--found them not to have much energy to do the things I liked.

My husband is 14 years older than me -- he's 58, I'm 45. We never notice it -- have mostly the same views on stuff. It's the 2nd time around for both of us though. We both have grown kids from previous marriages and then started over and have an 11 y/o and 7 y/o. The only time we really notice the age difference is when he starts talking about "when I was a Woodstock" and I get to say, "yep sweetie, I remember Woodstock -- I was two!"

Nope, I'm a cougar...and it works JUST FINE...<wink wink> =)

Age does not matter if you understand each other and have common goals. Age is just a number ; )

My Husband is younger. Just so happened. I didn't go out purposely, to look for a younger guy.
It just is.
And we are both not perfect, despite whatever age we are.
No relationship is perfect, but it is the combination of personalities etc. that carves out the relationship.
Been married for 15 years.

But when I was about 18, I dated a guy that was older than me. And my Dad had a cow. But we were together for 4 years, and my parents learned that he was a good guy. He just happened to be older. The relationship didn't last because he moved away. And I didn't want to move where he was going. And I was the one that ended it.

It all depends...

IT IS MY OPINION, when you are older - in your late 20's and 30's - age isn't much of a factor as it is morals, values and goals...however....

If you are 18 marrying a man who is 28? yeah. that can be a problem...you can't go out to bars or dancing (if that's your thing)...a 28 year old "man" interested in an 18 year old is most likely very immature...but that's MY opinion...

My husband is 5 years older than me. We married in our 30's. This year will be 15 years of marriage...don't want to walk down the path of life with anyone else...

One of my dearest friends was 19 (they met when she was 18) when she married a man who was 42. Yup, he was 23 years older than she was and they are one of the most wonderful couples that I have ever met. They are perfect for each other!

It goes to show that age is only a number and, as long as it's legal and not an icky situation, that relationships outside of social "norms" can surprise us!

I think once we hit a certain point in our development that age becomes just a number. The brain needs until our early 20s to fully develop, once that happens then age becomes less of a factor in figuring out who is a good match for someone.

I think it really depends on the person. My ex-husband was 12 years my senior. He was not, however, more mature than I was.

My husband, on the other hand, is 8 years my senior and very mature, very responsible. We are both strong believers in raising children up well, both agree politically on a lot of things and both have very strong convictions/ethics. I love that he's a little more old-school than some guys. He is gracious about my not working out of the home right now. My husband has taken the financial burden of supporting the family on himself for now without complaining. I greatly admire him, his life experiences and what he's done for himself and for us.

My husband is 11 years older than me and is the most amazing husband and father. We have a wonderful marriage. A true partnership. I am so happy that we found each other. The age difference, if anything, has made our marriage stronger.

Older males are not the least bit of a problem, especially since women are more mature. That's been a typical arrangement throughout history. Older men with younger brides. And ten years isn't even that much older in this scenario.

If the male is significantly younger it is more difficult. 50 year old woman with 35-40 year-old man? Tricky.

My husband is only 4 yrs older, but I was 19 when I got married. We have been married 22 yrs. We got engaged after 4 months together. Everyone told us we were nuts. I also don;t think the age of the people has much to do with whether a marriage lasts. It has more to do with how you connect and how mature the couple is in relation to each other.

For your May-December question, I have a friend that married her 26 yr old boyfriend when she was 16. They are still married. Another couple I know that was 12 yrs apart in age split after 4 yrs.

I think that when the age differance is big and the male is the younger then it makes a difference. For the simple reason that men mature slower and later in life. My best friend has been dating the same guy for 10 yrs and he's younger by 5 or so years , it's taken that long for him to mature enough to marry him or to get him to marry her. My sister is married to a guy that is 8 yrs younger than her, he's in his early 20s and they are constantly fighting because of his maturity issues. When the man is older you are more likely to be same wave length. When the age difference is huge 15+ yrs you've got almost a generation gap and I'd be rare to find someone with the same interests as you and, same interests do kind of help a relationship.

I don't think 10 years is a huge difference. My husband is five years older than me. I don't think that people have to be really close in age to have a successful marriage.

My husband is 5.5 years older than I am, but we have never really found age to be a factor in our relationship. I've always acted "older" than my age and my husband is an overgrown child! Just kidding, but most people are shocked to find out that he's as old as he is.

My BIL is engaged to a woman nearly 10 years younger than he is and they are very happy together. Honestly, it took him a while to mature into a functional adult and she's very mature so "developmentally", they are equals!

I have known people who have made it work just fine. I am only 3 months older than my husband. We met when we were 19 and got married when we were 21, and have been married for 10 years now. Before I met my husband I dated a guy who was 5 years older than me. I was 18 and he was 23. I think that's my personal max of age difference. I really don't understand how anyone could date someone who is old enough to be their parent (20 years difference). That to me seems a little weird.

My husband is 17 years older than I am. My kids know how old we are and have no problem with it. They know we are not the "norm," but that they live in a mostly happy home.

I think as long as two people really love each other, age doesn't matter.

My husband is 12 years older than I am. Obviously it works for us, otherwise we wouldn't be married :P

I don't think age has anything to do it with. It has to do with the maturity levels of the parties and where they are in their stages of life, which can be related to age, but isn't always.

My 1st hubby was almost 8 years older than me......we divorced after 3 1/2 years. Current hubby is almost 15 years older. We have been married 7. I have a cousin whos husband is 35 years older than her. They have a son who is 7 or 8 and been married at least 10 years or so. I dont think age really has anything to do with it.

My first husband was 5 years older than me. My second was 19 years older than me. My third was 14 years older than me. Age differences were not a factor in my decision to marry or to divorce.

I suggest that you do have have a May-December marriage. A May-December marriage is one in which one spouse is beginning their life and the other is ending their life.

I'm 3 yrs older than my husband - it works well for us.
My Mom was 2 yrs older than Dad - they divorced and he remarried to a woman 8 yrs younger than him.
My grandfather was 14 yrs older than grandma - she always called him her old man - they had a rocky relationship.
My sisters husband was 2 yrs older than her - he just passed away at 50 from cancer last week.

My brother is 7 years younger than his wife. They are made for each other.:-)

I have a friend who has been married for 15 yrs or so to a man who is older than her parents, and they are super happy and have a young son. I'm not sure I would have been able to have children, knowing they would see their dad die at a very young age, but to each her own.

Having said that, I don't think age matters, it's the relationship you have that matters.

My DH is 14 years my senior. My grands were 17 years apart (married 50 years before his passing) and my sister and her DH are 10 years apart. I think that while age is a factor (I will have to face later in life issues with DH before my friends and it's a factor in him not wanting more kids), you can be just as compatible with someone older as someone younger -- or just as INcompatible. I also got married at 26 and we've been married 9 years now. I think other factors have been a greater strain on our marriage than our age. I've always gravitated toward people older than myself so it was not really a surprise.

There was 25 years difference between my mom and step dad. It didn't seem to matter early in the relationship. They were married 25 years. It wasn't until he was in his late 60's that it seemed to make a difference. He was slowing down and starting to have health issues.

My grandma was 15 when she met my grandpa. He was 26. They got married within in a year of meeting each other. The had a great marriage. When my grandma passed away they had been married for 67 years.