Another Perk

Sure, they used to be our Imperialist masters, but the Brits still have some good to offer. Like a recent study that claims the secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger than you.

The work, published in the European Journal of Operational Research (who?), claim these pairings are more likely to go the distance, particularly if neither has been divorced in the past. The researchers studied interviews of more than 1,500 couples who were married or in a serious relationship. Five years later, they followed up 1,000 of the couples to see which had lasted.

They found that if the wife was five or more years older than her husband, they were more than three times as likely to divorce than if they were the same age. If the age gap is reversed, and the man is older than the woman, the odds of marital bliss are higher.

Those who have never divorced fare better too. But couples in which one member has been through a divorce in the past are less stable than those in which both members are divorcees.

Famous M and his young beau Scarlett 1, other fellas and their old ladies, 0.