Generally speaking, men will marry younger wives, while women choose older men as husbands. But is this choice driven by culture, genetics, or the environment? Is there an optimal age difference between couples? According to a new study, in pre industrial Finnish Sami ethnic groups, men should marry a woman 15 years younger than them, which is conducive to reproducing more offspring for themselves.
"Samuli Helle, an ecologist at the University of Turku in Finland, said, 'Sami people only get married once in their lives. After studying the impact of the age difference between spouses in Sami marriages on family fertility, we found that if they marry a woman who is 14.6 years younger than their own age, the young wife will successfully produce more children for their husband, and their offspring will at least live to be over 18 years old.'"
In order to eliminate the impact of modern medical advances on child survival, researchers obtained the above results by querying the records of 700 couples living in churches in Utsjoki, Inari, and Enontekio from the 17th to 19th centuries. However, only 10% of these 700 couples have the best age difference between husband and wife. Among the 700 couples, some men married a woman 20 years older than him, while others married a husband 25 years older than themselves, with an overall average age difference of 3 years. Helle said that an increasing number of Sami marriages do not exhibit the optimal age difference, which may be related to social factors such as their marriage customs and the ability of reindeer to support their families (Sami people generally rely on reindeer for their livelihood).
But ultimately, a woman's reproductive age is the biggest factor affecting the survival rate of offspring. A research paper published in the journal Biology Letters suggests that young women generally produce more healthy children. Marrying an older woman as a wife, or marrying a man who is much older than himself, is the most detrimental to successful childbirth.
Other studies in Sweden have shown that the ideal fertility match is for a man to marry a woman six years younger than him. However, cultural constraints on marriage have changed. Helle pointed out, "Wealth is the most important factor in marriage. Love hardly plays any role."
In fact, regardless of the age difference, as long as both parties feel happy and healthy, it is the most important thing. After all, procreation is the result of marriage, but it is not the ultimate goal. The purpose of marriage is multifaceted, but happiness is the ultimate and most desired outcome for everyone. To pursue their own happy marriage for happiness is enough. Under this premise, age is not a gap!