405: You'll be empty nesters soon. What'll happen to the marriage? (ft. Jason Lange)

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges and opportunities couples face as they transition to being empty nesters, highlighting the importance of proactive communication and intimacy in marriage.

The kids are almost out of the house. And there's this quiet, low-grade dread that when they go … you'll both be left staring across the table at someone you believe you love but barely know anymore. That dread is well-founded. Couples are 40% more likely to divorce after kids leave home. Divorce rates for Americans over 55 have doubled since 1990. And roughly half of all divorces now happen to couples who are 50+ — right in this window. The empty nest isn't just an emotional transition. It's a relationship reckoning. But there's a surprising and uplifting twist here: research also shows that couples who do the work don't just survive empty nest syndrome — they thrive . Studies show that folks in tended marriages report higher closeness and intimacy after the kids leave. The difference between couples who split and those who catch fire again? Those that see it coming and take action. Here we speak honestly about what they see in men who sensed flatness in their relationship for years and didn't act. Men in near-sexless marriages telling themselves it's "fine." And men who finally did the work — and found themselves having the best sex of their marriage in their 50s, feeling…

People in this episode

Host: Melanie Curtin

Guest: Jason Lange

Topics covered

• empty nest syndrome
• marriage
• divorce
• relationships
• intimacy
• sexuality

Keywords

• empty nest
• divorce rates
• couples therapy
• intimacy after kids
• marriage advice
• sexual adventure
• relationship dynamics

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