Figures from the Office for National Statistics show 26 percent of brides now have a younger groom, compared with 15 percent in 1963 in England. The rising trend is seen especially obvious after the 29-year-old Duchess of Cambridge, who is five months older than her new husband, Prince William, 28.
The number of women five years older than their husbands has doubled from 1 percent in 1963 to 2 percent in 2003.
'Age has become less of a defining factor in social identity and therefore larger age gaps may be more acceptable to the partners themselves and to society,' said ONS Professor Ruth Hancock.
Anastasia de Waal, of the think-tank Civitas, said that in the past, 'for many women, marriage was their identity - you were a wife - but now it's much more about partnership'.
'Our findings suggest that in England and Wales people's reasons for marrying may have been less about social status and more about fulfilment of individual goals,' She added.


根据英国国家统计局的数据显示，英国目前的新婚夫妇中女方比男方年龄大的占26%，而1963年这一数字仅为15%，这个上升趋势在威廉王子大婚后尤其明显，29岁的王妃凯特比她28岁的丈夫威廉王子大5个月。


在1963年妻子年龄比丈夫大5岁的占1%，而在2003年就上升到2%。
英国国家统计局的专家鲁斯•汉诺克教授称，在社会身份认同中，年龄已经不是一个决定性的因素，因此年龄差距的现象更容易被大众和社会所接受。

安娜斯塔西娅是斯维达斯专家组的成员，她说，在过去对很多妇女来说，婚姻是就一种身份，一个妻子的身份，但是现在婚姻中更侧重的是伴侣关系。
她补充道："我们发现在英格兰和威尔士，人们结婚的原因，更加侧重个人目标的实现，而不是关注彼此的社会身份。"

• obvious [´ɔbviəs] a.明显的；显而易见的 (初中英语单词)
• prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)
• factor [´fæktə] n.因素；原动力；要素 (初中英语单词)
• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
• duchess [´dʌtʃis] n.公爵夫人；女公爵 (高中英语单词)
• cambridge [´keimbridʒ] n.剑桥 (高中英语单词)
• statistics [stə´tistiks] n.统计学；统计 (英语四级单词)
• acceptable [ək´septəbəl] a.可接受的；合意的 (英语四级单词)
• status [´steitəs] n.身份；情形；状况 (英语四级单词)
• identity [ai´dentiti] n.身份；同一性；一致 (英语六级单词)
• fulfilment [ful´filmənt] n.完成，成就 (英语六级单词)