Age Gaps and Marriage

Men also experience age-related trends in their appeal to women. From an evolutionary perspective, men’s ability to acquire and maintain resources promotes offspring survival, and therefore, if this ability is age-linked, certain ages for men should spark women’s attraction. Historically, men’s hunting-and-gathering productivity likely peaked around the mid-30s; modern census data is consistent in showing that men’s income peaks in their mid-40s and early 50s, though, admittedly, age is a less perfect predictor of reproductive value for men here than it is for women.