Abstract
Iran has the second highest age differential between husband and wife out of 55 countries studied (Dixon, 1971) and one almost twice as large as that for all countries combined. This article provides a set of basic reliable data on husband‐wife age differentials in Shiraz, Iran, for marriages in 1956, 1966, 1973, and 1974, and for divorces in 1956, 1966, and 1973. The data provide support for the hypotheses: (1) the larger the difference between the ages of bride and groom, the higher the chance for family dissolution; and (2) the younger the brides, the greater the age differences between them and their grooms.