Latest relationship trend: Women no longer mind big age gaps — study

MANILA, Philippines — These days, women no longer mind if they are older than their respective partners, says Bumble, a popular online dating app.

There was a time when the ideal set-up for a romantic relationship between a man and a woman is that the man is older than the woman by a few years. Society frowned upon relationships between a woman and a younger man, seeing it as a doomed relationship that’s sure to fall apart sooner or later. So, women in such May-December relationships themselves felt uncomfortable. This is probably what causes such relationships to fail in the end.

But now this is no longer true, proof of which is how age-gap relationships are ow the hottest trend in rom-coms. Anne Hathaway’s new movie "The Idea of You" has everyone obsessed, becoming the No.1 Rom-Com debut with nearly 50 million viewers in two weeks, proving how age-gap relationships truly are trending at the moment. 

Turns out, we’re here for age-gap relationships, with Bumble’s 2024 Dating Trends Reports stating the "Gen-Blend Romance" trend is here to stay, with 53% of Filipinos stating that age isn't a defining factor in dating. 

In fact, 33% of women say they're now more open to dating someone younger than them, with a further 59% of women saying they’ve become less judgmental toward age-gaps. 

In "The Idea of You," Hathaway’s character is 16 years older than her love interest Hayes, played by Nicholas Galitzine, and, similarly, in "A Family Affair," Zac Efron’s character is 16 years younger than his assistant’s mother, Brooke Harwood, who is played by Nicole Kidman. 

Lucille McCart, Bumble’s APAC Communications Director, stated: “Gen-Blend Romances make us question our outdated beliefs about gender, power, and the amount of agency people bring to relationships. There is a perception that young women in relationships with older men are taken advantage of, or that young men who date older women are only doing so out of some kind of ‘kink.' Forget the narrative. Gen-Blend Romances allow singles to tear up the dating rulebook, and date people that you may not have dated before so you can have new experiences and connections outside your typical age type. If it’s good enough for Cher and Madonna, it’s good enough for me.”