An increasing number of women are earning more than men. Although men still make more money overall and hold more management positions, a Pew Research Center report stated 22% of women made more money than their husbands in 2007. In 1970 it was only 4%. There's also been a shift in education. According to the 2010 census, 60% of students with advanced degrees were women. As a result, new studies show women are increasingly marrying men with less education and income than they have. The "Cinderella complex" - women unconsciously waiting to marry a rich man - is becoming a fairy tale.
When women are more attractive than their husbands, marriages are happier. A study published in the Journal of Family Psychology consisted of 82 young couples who'd been together nearly 3 years and had been married within the previous 6 months. Each couple was videotaped for 10 minutes while discussing personal problems. Because men are more interested in beauty and women are more interested in having a supportive husband, the most positive marriages occurred when the women were more attractive. Considering this, I wonder if Cinderella and Prince Charming really did live happily ever after.
Women whose husbands are much older or younger have shorter life expectancies. According to a study published in the journal Demography, the mortality rate for men who marry wives 7-9 years younger decreases 11%; but the mortality rate for women who marry men 7-9 years younger increases 20%. In fact, the greater women's age differences are - older or younger - the lower their life expectancy. For men the younger their wife, the longer their life expectancy. Generally speaking, however, married people continue to live longer than unmarried people - or maybe it just seems that way.
Nevertheless, richer or poorer, more attractive or less, older or younger - approximately 50% of marriages still end in divorce. What's changing is who's divorcing. According to the author of the marriage guide "For Better", 23% of college graduates who married in the 1970's divorced within 10 years. In the 1990's it was only 16%. University of Pennsylvania research found in the 1980's that 81% of college graduates marrying at age 26 or older were married 20 years later. Under 26, only 65% were. However, only 49% of those who married young without a college degree lasted 20 years. Marriage must be easier to handle by degrees.
When women are more attractive than their husbands, marriages are happier. A study published in the Journal of Family Psychology consisted of 82 young couples who'd been together nearly 3 years and had been married within the previous 6 months. Each couple was videotaped for 10 minutes while discussing personal problems. Because men are more interested in beauty and women are more interested in having a supportive husband, the most positive marriages occurred when the women were more attractive. Considering this, I wonder if Cinderella and Prince Charming really did live happily ever after.
Women whose husbands are much older or younger have shorter life expectancies. According to a study published in the journal Demography, the mortality rate for men who marry wives 7-9 years younger decreases 11%; but the mortality rate for women who marry men 7-9 years younger increases 20%. In fact, the greater women's age differences are - older or younger - the lower their life expectancy. For men the younger their wife, the longer their life expectancy. Generally speaking, however, married people continue to live longer than unmarried people - or maybe it just seems that way.
Nevertheless, richer or poorer, more attractive or less, older or younger - approximately 50% of marriages still end in divorce. What's changing is who's divorcing. According to the author of the marriage guide "For Better", 23% of college graduates who married in the 1970's divorced within 10 years. In the 1990's it was only 16%. University of Pennsylvania research found in the 1980's that 81% of college graduates marrying at age 26 or older were married 20 years later. Under 26, only 65% were. However, only 49% of those who married young without a college degree lasted 20 years. Marriage must be easier to handle by degrees.
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