The bigger the age gap, the higher the divorce rate

A new study has revealed that bigger age gaps increases the chances of divorce in couples. A five-year age gap statistically means you're 18% more likely to divorce as compared to just 3 % with a 1-year age difference, and that rate rises to 39% for a 10-year age difference and 95% for a 20-year age gap, the New York Post reported.

Randal Olson, a fourth-year computer science graduate research assistant at Michigan State University found that other factors might play a role in a marriage's longevity. People having first child out of wedlock statistically means they're 59% less likely to have a divorce than a couple with no children, but having a child during a marriage means they're 76% less likely to split.

But that could also mean happier couples have more children. People are 43% more likely to divorce if they have different levels of education than a couple with the same level. But celebrating a 10-year wedding anniversary bodes well: people are 43% less likely to divorce if they stay together two years, but they're 94% less likely to divorce if they reach 10 years.

Simon Rego, director of psychology training at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, said that many marriages that appear stable to outside observers may just be an 'empty shell' for couples who stay together for legal, religious, financial and/or child-rearing reasons.