A 2008 study, however, concluded that the difference is not significant. Another study also showed a higher divorce rate as the age difference rose for when either the woman was older or the man was older. A study released in 2003 by the UK's Office for National Statistics concluded that the proportion of women in England and Wales marrying younger men rose from 15% to 26% between 19. However, the number of women marrying younger men is rising. The pattern was also confirmed for the rest of the world, with the gap being largest in Africa. Most men marry women younger than they are with the difference being between two and three years in Spain, the UK reporting the difference to be on average about three years, and the US, two and a half. However, research suggests that relationship patterns are more influenced by women’s preferences than men’s.
Older men also display an interest in women of their own age. Because most men are interested in women in their 20s, adolescent boys are generally sexually interested in women somewhat older than they are. Older women sometimes date younger men as well, and in both cases wealth and apparent physical attractiveness are often relevant. In various cultures, older men and younger women often seek one another for sexual or marital relationships. Relationships with age disparities have been observed with both men and women as the older or younger partner. Data in Australia and the United Kingdom show an almost identical pattern.