Affairs Begin At Forty

Affairs Begin At Forty

If you’re a forty-something woman, live in the south east, are educated to GCSE level, earn less than 20k and have been married for less than 7 years then you’re a classic case for an affair.

Blokes, you would have to be in your late forties, live in the south east, have a degree (but nothing above that), be self-employed, earn between 20k and 30k and be married for less than seven years. That way, you’d tick all the boxes for the typical adulterer.

A survey by maritalaffair.co.uk, which has more than 600,000 members across the UK, has been investigating which ages, professions, regions, length of marriage and other lifestyle factors are most prolific in people who cheat on their partner.

For both men and women, more than half had been married for less than seven years before they thought about seeking an affair. Eight to fourteen years of marriage was the second most category and the numbers steadily declined the longer they’d been together.

Men who are self-employed are most likely to have a secret fling followed by those in executive management. For women, the most common cheaters are among housewives, followed by secretaries.

There also seemed to be a link between affairs and how much people earn.

Below 20k was the most common salary bracket (50 per cent for women and 29 per cent for men) and between 20k and 30k was second most common. For men only though, there was another spike in those who earn over 60k.

For women, it’s their naughty forties when their eyes wander. For misbehaving men it’s their fifties. Twenty four per cent of women looking for an affair were aged between 41 and 45 and 21 per cent were 46 to 50.

For their sneaky male counterparts 19 per cent were aged between 46 and 50, 18 per cent were aged 51-55 and 16 per cent between 41 and 45. The most well-behaved age category, if we exclude the over 75s, were the 18-25s.

Where you live could also dictate your secret lustiness. The south east outnumbered all the other regions by a long way (39 per cent of women and 34 per cent of men). The Midlands was next most common for men and the south west came in second place for unfaithful women. Ireland and Scotland were the regions with the least amount of forbidden liaisons.

Having two children, it seems, doesn’t bode well on fidelity. Thirty per cent of philandering women and 30 per cent of philandering men had two children with their established partner.

But having none at all also seems to lend itself towards forbidden trysts. Thirty per cent of men and 28 per cent of women were child free.

Maritalaffair.co.uk, which conducted the research, claims to be the most discrete place for adults to seek more passion, quizzed more than 800 of its members on their personal circumstances. All those involved said they used the site to seek an illicit relationship.

More than two thirds said they had cheated before, yet more than two thirds of both sexes were confident their partner hadn’t cheated.

If you are infuriated as to why, why, why?! That’s what the research asked to. Out of nine possible reasons, including lack of intimacy, being in an open marriage, seeking a revenge affair, being a carer for a sick spouse or simply wanting to have sex with someone else, the most overwhelmingly common reason, which out beat any other category five-fold, was lack of intimacy (75 per cent of women and 78 per cent of men).

And while many may not openly admit the same thing in front of their partners, a significant majority of both sexes agreed that an affair could save a marriage.

 

Cara Mason @FemaleFirst_UK