Love, Later

Making Space for New Romantic Relationships in Later Life

Abstract

Looking for new love in later life has become more common, less stigmatized, and less sidelined in mainstream and academic conversations. Higher life expectancy, a rising standard of living, and cultural shifts such as the liberalization of women’s gender roles have created a climate ripe for kindling later-life romance across the West. Yet, there is still much more we can do—as researchers, policymakers, media producers and creatives, and society as a whole—to support and make space for later-life re-partnering. On one hand, popular culture has come to validate later-life romances through social media influencers, TV shows, and a marked expansion in online content. At the same time, social science research largely skirts acknowledgement of later-life sexuality. Drawing on in-depth interviews with new romantic partners aged 55+ and analyses of online content about new love in later life, this _Perspective explores the expansiveness and possibilities of loving again in midlife and beyond. It stresses the need to normalize new romantic relationships in later life, to not reduce these relationships to humorous tropes—despite some sensational influencers’ success in depicting the lighter side of senior romance—and recognize the parts we might play in a world where later-life recoupling is becoming common.