Are you thinking about searching for a Ukrainian or Russian woman? As there are many beautiful young Ukrainian and Russian women profiles in the marriage agency websites might you be thinking about dating women much younger than you? What is an acceptable age gap?

In general Ukrainian and Russian women will consider a larger age gap than what the women from your home country would. Of course there are always exceptions, I also know Ukrainian and Russian women who only want a man approximately the same age as them.

I have heard and discussed many theories as to why this is the case and the theory that seems the most plausible is the following: The Ukrainian and Russian women are looking for financial stability and a comfortable standard of living for themselves and their future family. The standard of living in Ukraine and Russia is likely much lower than in your home country. Thus, the women place a higher priority on finding a man who can offer them this rather than on the age difference. Regarding the women say they are interested in a more “mature” man it still relates more to financial stability than personality traits. Another theory is that foreign men offer the chance at material goods that were either unavailable or too expensive locally.

So what is an acceptable age gap? The acceptable age gap is not static. It has changed over the years. I believe it changes according to supply and demand. When there are less local men than can offer the Ukrainian and Russian women the stability they desire then they will consider a larger age difference. Immediately after the fall of the iron curtain the acceptable age gap was much larger than what it is now. At that time women were comfortable with age gaps of up to 20 or even 25 years.

Since then there have been a few changes in the local situation for these ladies. Both Russia and Ukraine have developed more of a middle class (but it still has a long way to go) so that there are more young men with reasonable incomes. Most “western” material goods are now available locally to Ukrainian and Russian women. Something overlooked but that I still believe is relevant, is that the younger Ukrainian men don’t drink “as much” alcohol as their older brothers/fathers do (although it is still high compared to western men). And finally, as I mentioned earlier, supply and demand. In the years since the iron curtain fell the supply of foreign men (including younger men) for Ukrainian and Russian women to choose from has increased. There are many more Ukrainian and Russian women marriage agencies now offering their services to foreign men. All of these factors combine to offer more choices of younger men for women looking for this financial stability and stable life style than there was some years ago. And as such, the acceptable age gap has fallen.

I believe that an acceptable age gap is now closer to 15 years on average. If the age difference is much larger than that I would advise the man to carefully assess his Ukrainian or Russian woman’s motives for being with him. I know a 45 year old woman who has a 70 year old foreign boyfriend. She keeps him on the hook solely for financial reasons and actively dates younger men. I don’t believe that it is an isolated case.

I can also recall sitting with my girlfriend in a café across the street from one of the marriage agency “socials”. My girlfriend commented on how many of the known local prostitutes were entering the social. Sure enough, one of the women that my girlfriend pointed out exits the social arm in arm with the oldest man at the social. He had to be in his seventies, maybe more. The crossed the street and sat at the table next to us. She ordered champagne and food while he ordered a mineral water. It was rather humorous to watch, while she drank champagne he was sorting through his medical prescriptions. She made a call from her mobile phone and soon two of her friends showed up. The four of them got up and crossed the street to a mini shopping center. A little while later the 3 women exited with the man, their hands full of bags of newly bought gifts. From the shopping center the two girlfriends went home and the man and his lady went next door, back in to the social. And sure enough, not even ten minutes later, the man was sitting alone while the lady had moved on to her next “victim”.

My point in telling this story is, if you are going to date Ukrainian and Russian women more than 15 years younger than you, then you should carefully assess their motives. If her motives are not genuine then you can either move on to another lady or, if you are having fun and don’t mind, then continue on, content in the knowledge that you understand what is going on.