Couples tend to marry someone close to their age — at least initially. But of those who remarry, men seem drawn to younger women, while women tend to marry older men, a Pew Research Study says.
"Fifteen percent of men marry someone six or more years younger than them for their first marriages, but that's only true of 3 percent of women. For second marriages, men are much more likely to go younger: 38 percent of men choose a significantly younger woman, compared to 11 percent of women," wrote Danielle Kurtzleben of Vox.
"Women, meanwhile, are far more likely to seek out someone older when they decide to remarry. 27 percent of women go much older the second (or third) time around, compared to 6 percent of men," she continued.
The Pew report, by researcher Gretchen Livingston, said that "among women who have recently remarried, the likelihood of having a much younger spouse is far smaller than among remarried men, but still greater than among women in their first marriage. Just 5 percent of remarried women have a husband 10 or more years younger, compared with 1 percent of wives in their first marriage. And 6 percent of remarried wives have a husband six to nine years their junior, compared with 2 percent of wives in their first marriage."
Pew, in an earlier report, noted that 40 percent of new marriages involve a remarriage for at least one of the partners. More than 42 million American adults have remarried at least once.
In covering that report, the Deseret News highlighted differences in education and in age among those who remarry. Half of previously wed adults who didn't get a high school diploma have remarried, compared with 58 percent of high school graduates and 59 percent of those with a bachelor's degree.
When it comes to age, fewer younger Americans who have been married before do it again, compared to those who are older. Among those 25-34, 43 percent had remarried in 2013, compared with 75 percent in 1960. Half of previously wed seniors had remarried in 2013, compared with 34 percent in 1960.
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