Posted on 08/29/2007 3:10:46 PM PDT by blam
Men with younger women have more children
13:50 29 August 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Roxanne Khamsi
A woman should get together with a man several years older than herself if she wants a lot of children – at least in Sweden.
The analysis of Swedish birth records reveals that men who partner with women six years younger than themselves produce the most offspring.
Across many cultures men and women prefer younger and older mates respectively, says Martin Fieder, an anthropologist at the University of Vienna in Austria. In theory these age preferences make evolutionary sense, he says. However, there has been little reliable data on whether the preferences translate into a real advantage in terms of having children.
To find out more, Fieder and Susanne Huber - his two-years-younger wife and a researcher at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna - examined population data from Sweden. This country keeps meticulous records of births, including the names and ages of both parents, regardless of whether they are married or not.
They randomly selected the records of about 5600 men and 6000 women born between 1945 and 1955, and looked at the number of children born to each individual before 2003.
This is the most recent generation that could be assumed to have stopped having new children. Previous studies have shown that in Sweden only 2% of people have a child past the age of 45.
Six-year high
An analysis of the records revealed that men who had partners aged six years younger than themselves had the greatest number of children: about 2.2 children on average, a relatively high number in a country that has long had low fertility rates in the past.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
Ping.
I’m not allowed to do that any more. Could be dangerous around this household.
Hmmm...it may just have something to do with the younger women being hotter.
When do I get my research grant?
Duh!!
Men want to make more babies with younger women?!@
Shocking.
In my case that’s true on both counts — younger woman and lots of kids.
Men don’t have the children, the women do. Younger women will have more time to have more children.
Hmmm...it may just have something to do with the younger women being hotter.
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Darn it. Until I read your post I thought that guys with younger wives were total studs. Maybe younger women are more fertile also?
I think that is backwards. Women's fertility drops off faster with age than men's. A man wanting a large family would want to marry a young woman, not just a younger woman. A forty year old woman marrying a 60 year old man is probably unlikely to have a large family. I bet the study didn't control for the age of the woman at the time she married and started having children.
Work Safe picture of my Swede/Finn wife... she's younger than me... the article is 100% correct !!!
“It’s faster horses, younger women, older whiskey and more money” ...Tom T Hall.
I don’t date women more than two years younger than me anymore. They’re high-maintenance pains in the ass.
Also, older men might be better able to afford to raise more children.
Young babes with lots of kids ping.
Hey, Fred, it’s been a while since there was a White House bundle of joy.
Just sayin’.
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