Ideal age gap for your relationship to be a success, according to expert

When it comes to age gaps in relationships, people have all kinds of preferences. But according to experts, there's a certain gap that makes it more likely to work out.

Over the years, age gaps in relationships have experienced a range of different opinions.

From people claiming three years is the maximum couples should aim for, to others believing a decade sounds more appealing – it's easy to get confused by the conflicting information out there.

However, psychotherapist Eloise Skinner says there’s one age difference that sees the relationship to be well ‘matched’.

Skinner revealed that there’s a way to make sure you’re in the same place in life, making you more likely to be aligned physically and mentally, and even travel-wise.

“You’re more likely to have matched expectations financially in terms of spending, saving and investments, as well as health-wise,” she told Metro.

Large age gaps were not seen to be ideal (Getty Stock Images)

So, what is the answer?

Zero to three years age gap

“Age gap couples might be less resilient when it comes to challenging events in their marriage, compared to similarly aged couples, according to research,” Skinner explained, noting that there’s no wrong answer when it comes to two consenting adults getting together.

But, there’s an issue when it comes to large age gaps that is of note and should be understood prior to pairing up.

She said: “There’s the potential concern of power dynamics in an age gap relationship – for example, where one person has more financial resources, a bigger career or status.”

Zero to three years created a better 'match' (Getty Stock Images)

She added: “Of course, this can also occur without age gaps present. For a sustainable, long-term relationship, partners should aim to be on similar levels in terms of emotional maturity, psychological maturity, values, goals and preferences, which might be more likely to occur in smaller or no age-gap relationships.”

This echoes a similar sentiment Psych Central explained about age gaps.

Citing research published in the Journal of Population Economics from 2017, it revealed that large age gaps 'had a faster decline in relationship satisfaction in their first six to 10 years of marriage than similarly aged couples'.

"Relationship satisfaction decreased slightly for couples with age gaps of four to six years and continued to decrease for couples with an age gap of seven or more years," it added.

The best age gap Psych Central found was one to three years, which puts it only one year off than what Skinner recommends.

But do you agree?