Post Date December, 03 2023
Usually, men 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? The latest research shows that in pre industrial Finland's Sami people, men had to marry a woman 15 years younger than them as their wife, which was conducive to reproducing more offspring for themselves.
Samuli Helle, a ecologist from Turku University, Finland, said: "Sami people only get married once in their life. After studying the impact of the age difference between husband and wife in the Sami marriage on the family's offspring, we found that if they marry a woman 14.6 years younger than their own age, the young wife will successfully give birth to more children for her husband, and their offspring will live to at least 18 years old."
In order to eliminate the impact of modern medical progress on child survival rates, 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 optimal 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 have not shown 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 livelihood).
But ultimately, the reproductive age of women is the biggest factor affecting the survival rate of offspring. A research paper published in Biology Letters suggests that young women generally have more healthy children. Marrying an elderly woman as a wife, or marrying a man who is much older than oneself, 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 restrictions on marriage have changed. Helle pointed out, "Wealth is the most important factor in (Sami) 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. Pursuing one's own happy marriage for happiness is enough. Under this premise, age is not a difference!
