Clue for Requirement #4

German Study: Cougars Die Young, Sugar Daddies Live Longer

Updated: Wednesday, 12 May 2010, 2:49 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 12 May 2010, 2:49 PM CDT

(NewsCore) - Having a boy toy husband increases a woman’s chances of an early death, according to a new study reported Wednesday by Britain's Daily Mail .

And the younger her spouse is, the harder it is on a woman's health, research carried out in Germany says.

However the trend is reversed when an older man opts for a younger woman. The more youthful his wife, the longer the husband is expected to live.

The finding will come as a blow growing numbers of "cougars" -- middle-aged women who shun older men in search of younger guys.

Celebrity cougars include actress Demi Moore, 47, who is 15 years older than actor husband Ashton Kutcher, and "Friends" actress Courteney Cox, who is married to film star David Arquette -- seven years her junior.

The trend was identified by an analysis of marriage and death records belonging to almost two million Dutch men and women, the Daily Mail said.

A woman who bags a man seven to nine years younger than her is 20 percent more likely to die at any given point than someone married to a man her own age. And when a cougar weds someone more than 15 years younger than her, the risk soars to more than 30 percent.

Sven Drefahl of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany, said: "The greater the age difference, the lower the wife's life expectancy. The best choice for a woman is to marry a man of exactly the same age."

A "sugar daddy" with a wife seven to nine years his junior is seven percent less likely to die at any given time -- probably because she's more likely to nurse him in old age.

By contrast, a younger man tends to be less inclined to look after his elderly wife. And cougars are more likely to be seen as predatory -- making it less likely for them to maintain friends and dependents, another factor researchers suggested could explain their findings.