Article: things that predict if marriage will last

[Luthor Rex]

From MSNBC:

SYDNEY - Living happily ever after needn't only be for fairy tales. Australian researchers have identified what it takes to keep a couple together, and it's a lot more than just being in love.

I'm hoping most adults really don't need to be told that "love isn't good enough" to make a relationship last. But maybe I'm wrong...

A couple's age, previous relationships and even whether they smoke or not are factors that influence whether their marriage is going to last, according to a study by researchers from the Australian National University.

The study, entitled "What's Love Got to Do With It," tracked nearly 2,500 couples — married or living together — from 2001 to 2007 to identify factors associated with those who remained together compared with those who divorced or separated.

It found that a husband who is nine or more years older than his wife is twice as likely to get divorced, as are husbands who get married before they turn 25.

Well I'm over 25, but dammit about the younger girl thing!

Children also influence the longevity of a marriage or relationship, with one-fifth of couples who have kids before marriage — either from a previous relationship or in the same relationship — having separated compared to just nine percent of couples without children born before marriage.

Women who want children much more than their partners are also more likely to get a divorce.

A couple's parents also have a role to play in their own relationship, with the study showing some 16 percent of men and women whose parents ever separated or divorced experienced marital separation themselves compared to 10 percent for those whose parents did not separate.

Also, partners who are on their second or third marriage are 90 percent more likely to separate than spouses who are both in their first marriage.

I'd be interested to know about overall lifetime romantic relationships, aside from marriage, if that pattern continues.

Not surprisingly, money also plays a role, with up to 16 percent of respondents who indicated they were poor or where the husband — not the wife — was unemployed saying they had separated, compared with only nine percent of couples with healthy finances.

No surprise about the double standard on the man or woman being unemployed.

And couples where one partner, and not the other, smokes are also more likely to have a relationship that ends in failure.

Factors found to not significantly affect separation risk included the number and age of children born to a married couple, the wife's employment status and the number of years the couple had been employed.

The study was jointly written by Dr Rebecca Kippen and Professor Bruce Chapman from The Australian National University, and Dr Peng Yu from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

 

[Warrior74]

It found that a husband who is nine or more years older than his wife is twice as likely to get divorced, as are husbands who get married before they turn 25.

I saw an eharmony commercial the other day, and they guy said "going to bars is a passive way to meet women, eharmony is an active way to meet someone". My bull**** detector immediately tripped, exactly like when I read this sentence.

A guy who marries under 25 probably has no clue what is in store for him and might stay in it longer trying to make it work and get blindsided in the end. A guy 9 years older will either be a hopeless chump or be smart enough about women by now to make it work. I would think the odds would be in favor of the older man.

 

[SXS]

This is the kind of stuff that interests me. I am one of the few of my friends who hasn't married or had kids yet. Some of my friends are already separated. The funny thing is that the ones who are separating, everyone knew it wouldn't work.

 

[HoneyHitter]

The timespan of a marriage means really nothing to me. It's always better to cut off a miserable marriage, than to dwell in it for 20+ years and ending up with lots of regret.