“I could see an old pensioner marrying a poor young girl to take care of him in exchange for inheriting the right to his pension.”
That was the motivation for most of those old guys and younger women. A whole lot of women were getting those pension checks into the 60’s, 70’s and even the 80’s. The gals would get a guaranteed check in their old age and the old fellows wouldn’t have to die alone.
If the girl was very young when she married the pensioner, she would be a young enough widow to remarry. Or have a guy move in if remarriage would end the pension.