The age gap between Melania Trump and Donald could shave years off her life expectancy — here’s why

Unless there is a major plot twist, Donald Trump and his immediate family will remain financially secure. Not worrying about money could help extend a person’s lifespan, according to the year 2025 research By the National Council on Aging. In fact, individuals at the top of the wealth chain have twice the mortality rate than those at the bottom.

However, access to money is not the only determinant of life expectancy. Another strong determining factor relates to Trump’s wife, Melania: their age gap.

The difference between Donald and Melania extends a full 24 years, although they are in a relationship AARP The article explains that many high-profile couples have similar and wider age splits. (Side note: Men are not always the eldest because some Women prefer to date younger men; Legendary sex symbol Joan Collins has been married to someone 32 years her junior for more than two decades.) And to be fair, regular people aren’t as shy about age gaps as you might think, with 2022 Ipsos The survey found that 39% of participants admitted to dating someone at least 10 years older or younger than themselves.

In other words, it is not unusual to see wide gaps in the age of marriage, but evidence suggests that these gaps are not necessarily equally positive for both partners when it comes to mortality risk. On the contrary, women with a large age gap, like Melania, tend to have the short end of their life expectancy.

(here How the age gap relationship between Donald Trump and Melania could affect his life expectancy.)

This conclusion stems from 2010 He studies In demographics that examined the age gaps of the married partner and the life expectancy of the single partner. The study concluded that in a relationship with a gap of seven to nine years (the largest gap in the study), a man’s life expectancy improved by 11%. However, the woman’s risk of death decreased.

The study speculated that the couple’s social life was likely involved in this outcome, with author Sven Drevall noting during an interview that “on average, men have fewer and lower quality social connections than those of women” (via CBS News). For example, women often serve as a social anchor in marriage, bringing new friends into the relationship. Men are less inclined to do the same (a phenomenon called “male management”), so they rely on their wives to help establish social relationships. Thus, women receive less social benefit because they do not need their husbands to lead social ties.

Fair enough, but don’t women at least continue to get the benefits of social support, even though they bring people into their circle? Unfortunately not, and here’s why: There is still a social taboo that can sometimes cause other couples to resent forming strong friendships with couples who have age gaps.

2018 condition In current psychology, evidence has been found to support bias against couples with an age gap compared to couples of the same age. This means that despite their best efforts, women in relationships with wide age gaps may find their friend groups less sentimental and more surprising.