It’s one of if not THE most hotly anticipated nuptials in history, but one expert says that wedded bliss could be short lived for Prince Harry, 33, and Meghan Markle, 36.
According to The Independent, Professor Nicholas Wolfinger has done extensive research on the link between age and the likelihood of divorce. Based on data from the National Survey of Family Growth, he claims that the ideal age for putting a ring on it is in your late twenties and early thirties – between 28 and 32 to be exact. Those who tie the knot in their mid-thirties, however, are more likely to inevitably separate.
Wolfinger blames selection bias for this trend. “The kinds of people who wait till their thirties to get married may be the kinds of people who aren’t predisposed toward doing well in their marriages,” he writes. “People who marry later face a pool of potential spouses that has been winnowed down to exclude the individuals most predisposed to succeed at matrimony.”
The recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the median age of grooms is around 30 while the majority of brides are in their late twenties. Stats also show that the number of divorces granted has declined over the last 20 years, which some experts say is down to a growing tend of delaying marriage.
And before you cancel your order of royal teaspoons, other research has found that delaying marriage can have benefits, especially for women. A studyconducted by researchers for the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, found that women who finish university and get married after turning 30 earn $24,000 (AU) more per year, on average, than women who marry in their 20s or teens.
So perhaps that is what Meghan is onto something here...
This article originally appeared on Women's Health Australia.
