I tied the knot in my early 30s, but friends who chose to remain free agents (even having had opportunities to marry someone great) report that the market thins out more and more as time goes by. And these are men, with easier access to a younger pool.
I wouldn’t say women have it much different — I end up dating a lot of significantly younger men. It is harder to have much in common outside of physical attraction with someone too far from your age group though.
My wife is actually five years older than me. But we met on a night club and made out before talking too much and it stuck. I think we developed a crush on each other in the ensuing daytime dates, came to admire each other and recognize common values. But we had kissed first and tested the chemistry.
People overthink dating and mating. We'd all probably be reasonably happy on arranged marriages. With apologies for the non-inclusive language of an old song, "woman needs man and man must have his mate, on that you can rely as time goes by".
5 years isn’t that much difference and you still share some cultural overlap. I’ve dated people who are closer to 15 years younger and it was hard to have more than a physical relationship because our personalities were formed in such different contexts.
