Score Candidate Suitability by Age Disparity

Calculates a suitability score based on how closely a candidate's age matches a desired age range.

Usage

score_suitability_by_age_disparity(
  partner_age,
  age_start,
  age_end,
  strict_lower_bound = NULL
)

Arguments

partner_age

Numeric age of the candidate being evaluated.

age_start

Numeric lower bound of the preferred age range.

age_end

Numeric upper bound of the preferred age range.

strict_lower_bound

Optional numeric minimum acceptable age.

Candidates below this age receive a large penalty to prevent biologically implausible matches.

Value

A numeric suitability score.

Details

Lower scores indicate better matches.

A score of zero indicates that the candidate age falls within the desired age interval.

This function is used throughout the household-generation workflow when matching:

• Partners.

• Parents and children.

Suitability is calculated as follows:

Within Range

Returns 0.

Below Range

Returns the number of years below the lower bound.

Above Range

Returns the number of years above the upper bound.

If strict_lower_bound is supplied and the candidate falls below that value, an additional penalty of 999 is added.

This penalty mechanism is used by the parent-child matching workflow to discourage unrealistic parent-child age combinations.

See also

calculate_age_range_from_gap, findCoupleCandidates, findSecondaryPartner, pair_partners, matchAdultsWithChildren

Examples

# Candidate inside preferred range
if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
score_suitability_by_age_disparity(
  partner_age = 30,
  age_start = 25,
  age_end = 35
)
} # }

# Candidate too young
if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
score_suitability_by_age_disparity(
  partner_age = 20,
  age_start = 25,
  age_end = 35
)
} # }

# Candidate too old
if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
score_suitability_by_age_disparity(
  partner_age = 40,
  age_start = 25,
  age_end = 35
)
} # }

# Candidate violates strict lower bound
if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
score_suitability_by_age_disparity(
  partner_age = 12,
  age_start = 20,
  age_end = 25,
  strict_lower_bound = 14
)
} # }