Let's forget for a while the benefits of youth and beauty and the benefits of experience that come with age. You can argue that about anything: men, women, institutions, objects, etc., and both new and old things are appreciated depending on many variables that are hard to trach but aggregate into a preference.

My logical "bet" comes from the diversity argument:

  1. If a man marries a younger lady, he will get the benefits of youth AND the benefits of her experience and wisdom as she gets older.
  2. If a man marries an old lady, he will only get the benefits of marrying an older woman. Other men got the benefits of her being young.

This argument do not work applied to men because younger men literally have nothing to offer women, while younger women have fertility, youth, beauty, etc. to offer men. Men need often decades to develop status and build money that may make women even just look at them, in which case the men and women become more equal in the sex market, which explains why women tend to date older but almost never younger men.

Regardless, men are less likely to ask for divorce, so that means it is a myth they will leave her as she gets old. They just want to enjoy the benefits of her youth, his wealth, grow together, maybe have children, etc. and that full spectrum is limited if he only dates older ladies.

So what can old ladies do? They can date even older men. A lady over 40 may as well date a man in his 50 and the age difference will not be significant at that stage or their lives. Also most men at that age have some kind of stability even if they are not as rich and powerful as she want them to be.

The problem is that many women do not only want men by age or youth, but by other things such as income and status. Regardless, that is probably not a problem for them as women are more comfortable being alone and single, and they can literally just install an app to change that.

So women are fine even if men only dated younger women, younger ladies may take the best men but you do not need the best men, just men who are good enough for you.