According to research done for CNN in the US, the incidence of marriages with a large age gap between the spouses is declining. The "half plus seven" rule apparently used to judge what is (or was) an acceptable age gap, is being breached on fewer and fewer occasions. Irritatingly the rule seems to have been applied so as to judge the age of a younger wife, although why that should be assumed in today's world, I do not know.
Relationships obviously can't be governed solely by maths; there will always be exceptions to every rule. However I think I prefer the equation "Marrying your equal, equals staying married".
The large gap made my mind think about the old -- and some might argue sexist -- "half plus seven rule," which has shaped cultural understandings of what is an acceptable age gap in relationships.
It's a simple math equation that most often comes up these days in references to relationships involving older men and younger women. You take the older partner's age (50 in the example above), divide it by two (25) and add seven (32). If that number is smaller than or equal to the younger partner's age, "the rule" suggests that younger partner is old enough for the older partner to date. And if it's higher, that suggests the younger partner is too young.
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