Age gap between spouses has important implications for a range of outcomes—from fertility and longevity, to gender relationships, marital quality, and stability. This paper examines the age gap between spouses in 12 countries in South and Southeast Asia. The average age difference (husband’s minus wife’s age) is positive in all countries and ranges from 2.7 in Myanmar to 8.4 in Bangladesh. Age homogamous marriages accounted for 5% of all marriages in Bangladesh to close to half of all marriages in Thailand. The proportion of age hypogamous marriages was uniformly low in all the countries except for Myanmar where it reaches close to 10%. Men’s marriage age has a stronger effect in determining the age gap. In general, the age gap for women with lower education was larger than for those with higher education. However, much of this effect was explained by the difference in marriage timing across educational groups.
BanksC. A.ArnoldP. (2001). Opinions towards sexual partners with a large age difference. Marriage and Family Review, 33(4), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.1300/J002v33n04_02
Bouchet-ValatM. (2015). Fewer singles among highly educated women. A gender reversal of hypergamy across cohorts in France. Population-E, 70(4), 665–688. https://doi.org/10.3917/pope.1504.0665
4.
CarmichaelS. (2011). Marriage and power: Age at first marriage and spousal age gap in lesser developed countries. The History of the Family, 16(4), 416–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hisfam.2011.08.002
5.
CarolloA.OksuzyanA.DrefahlS.CamardaC. G.AhrenfeldtL. J.ChristensenK.van RaalteA. (2019). Is the age difference between partners related to women’s earnings?Demographic Research, 41, 425–460. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2019.41.15.
6.
CasterlineJ. B.WilliamsL.McDonaldP. (1986). The age difference between spouses: Variations among developing countries. Population Studies, 40(3), 353–374. https://doi.org/10.1080/0032472031000142296
7.
DrefahlS. (2010). How does the age gap between partners affect their survival?Demography, 47(2), 313–326. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0106
8.
DribeM.NystedtP. (2017). Age homogamy, gender, and earnings: Sweden 1990-2009. Social Forces, 96(1), 239–264. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sox030
9.
EnglandP.McClintockE. A. (2009). The gendered double standard of aging in US marriage markets. Population and Development Review, 35(4), 797–816. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2009.00309.x
EsteveA.SchwartzC. R.van BavelJ.PermanyerI.KlesmentM.García-RománJ. (2016). The end of hypergamy: Global trends and implications. Population and Development Review, 42(4), 615–625. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12012
12.
GustafsonP.FranssonU. (2015). Age differences between spouses: Sociodemographic variation and selection. Marriage and Family Review, 51(7), 610–632. https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2015.1060289
13.
HanciogluA.ArnoldF. (2013). Measuring coverage in MNCH: Tracking progress in health for women and children using DHS and MICS household surveys. PLOS Medicine, 10(5), e1001391. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001391
KolkM. (2015). Age differences in unions: Continuity and divergence among Swedish couples between 1932 and 2007. European Journal of Population, 31(4), 365–382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-015-9339-z
SamphantharakK. (2020). The Thai economy: A lost decade?” In ChachavalpongpunP. (Ed.), Coup, king, crisis: Time of a dangerous interregnum in Thailand (pp. 249–270). Yale Southeast Asian Studies Monograph Series.
20.
ShaferK. (2013). Disentangling the relationship between age and marital history in age-assortative mating. Marriage and Family Review, 49(1), 83–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2012.728557
SungN.LeeB. S.JoD. (2015). Who marries a younger man? Marriages between older women and younger men in Korea. Asian Population Studies, 11(2), 149–171. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730.2015.1049798
23.
UddinE.HoqueN.IslamR. (2017). Familial factors influencing age-heterogamy vs. age-homogamy in marriage in Bangladesh: Implication for social policy practice. Global Social Welfare, 4(3), 127–140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-016-0064-2
24.
UgglaC.WilsonB. (2021). Age gaps between partners among immigrants and their descendants Adaptation across time and generations?Population Studies, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2021.1998583.
25.
UNFPA. (2016). Fertility and nuptiality: Thematic report based on census of population and housing 2012. UNFPA.
26.
UtomoA. (2014). Marrying up? Trends in age and education gaps among married couples in Indonesia. Journal of Family Issues, 35(12), 1683–1706. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x14538023
27.
Van BavelJ.SchwartzC. R.EsteveA. (2018). The reversal of the gender gap in education and its consequences for family life. Annual Review of Sociology, 44(1), 341–360. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073117-041215
28.
Van de PutteB.van PoppelF.VanasscheS.SanchezM.JidkovaS.EeckhautM.OrisM.MatthijsK. (2009). The rise in age homogamy in 19th century Western Europe. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(5), 1234–1253. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00666.x
29.
YangJ.WangS.DewinaR. (2020). Taking the pulse of poverty and inequality in Thailand. World Bank Group.
YeungW.-J. J.HuS. (2018). Continuity and change in Singapore’s population and families. In YeungW. J. J.HuS. (Eds.), Family and population change in Singapore: A unique case in the global family changes (pp. 1–26). Routledge.
