Americans Are Having Less Sex than in Previous Decades

Although cultural perception towards sex has changed in the past decades, this hasn't exactly reflected in an increase in sexual activity across the board. The sexual frequency varies per age group, with a decline of 3.2% each year after the age of 25, and a decrease of 16x from the recent 5 year period of 2010-2014 compared to 10 years before.

The journal Archives of Sexual Behavior published a study about Americans during various time periods. This period was compared to two other five-year periods: 2000-2004 and 1995-1999. The data was collected from the General Social Survey sampling more than 26,000 American adults about their sexual behavior going as far back as 1989.

In total from 2010-2014, Americans had 9x less sex compared to 1995-1999, and 16x less sex for couples married or living together compared to 2000-2004.

Recent generations are having less sex than those born earlier in the 20th century. There is a big reversal in marriage and sex compared to previous decades. The studies lead author, Jean M. Twenge, also author of the book "Generation Me", said "In the 1990s, married people had sex more times per year than never-married people, but by the mid-2000s that reversed, with the never-married having more sex."

In a previous study Twenge and co-authors found that GenerationX have more sexual partners than the recent millennial generation. What's more, is that despite the image in society that the current GenerationZ/iGen "hooks up" a lot, they are also having less sex than their parents and grandparents did when they were young. Twenge says "[t]hat's partially because fewer iGen'ers and Millennials have steady partners."

The frequency of sexual activity is in steady decline as age increases, with people in their 20s, 40s and 60s having sex 80, 60 and 20 times per year respectively. The is about a 3.2% decrease each year after the age of 25.

One might think the modern saturation of activities that eats up the time in our days might be partially to blame. Parents are busy working, and then they have the children to take care of and the plethora of activities to keep the children busy they are also involved in. The research doesn't confirm any of this though, because apparently those who worked more hours in a day tend to have more sex as well. Go figure!

Twenge says his previous study:

"found that the happiness of adults over age 30 declined between 2000 and 2014. With less sex and less happiness, it's no wonder that American adults seem deeply dissatisfied these days."

I find this last part indicative of the state of mind most of us are in, where we are focused on the pleasure trap to derive happiness and satisfaction in life. Does not having sex mean one is going to remain dissatisfied? No, but some people may think so.

---

Thank you for your time and attention! I appreciate the knowledge reaching more people. Take care. Peace.

---

• Americans are having sex less often, new study shows
• Jean M. Twenge, Ryne A. Sherman, Brooke E. Wells. Declines in Sexual Frequency among American Adults, 1989–2014. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2017; DOI: 10.1007/s10508-017-0953-1

---

_{If you appreciate and value the content, please consider:
Upvoting ,    Sharing or   Reblogging below.}

_{me for more content to come!}

_{Looking to contact me? Find me on Discord or send me a message on SteemKURE.}

---

_{Please consider supporting me as a Steem Witness by voting for me at the bottom of the Witness page; or just click on the upvote button if I am in the top 50:}

_{If you are unsure how to vote for witnesses, you can put my name in the "SET PROXY" section at the bottom of the Witness Voting page which will use my witness votes.}

---

2017-03-20, 5:01pm