Despite the apparent ease of securing sex in the age of dating apps and hookup culture, young Americans seem to be having less of it than ever before.
According to The Washington Post, the number of adults in the United States who reported having no sex in the last year has reached an all-time high of 23 percent.
Citing the latest data from the General Social Survey, the Post reported a “much larger than expected number” of twenty-something men among the nation’s sexually inactive adults.
According to the survey, the portion of Americans between 18 and 29 reporting no sex in the last year has more than doubled in the last decade, leaping from 8 percent in 2008 up to 23 percent in 2018. Broken down by gender, the data also showed a significant and unprecedented divide between male and female respondents. While the number of women in that age group reporting no sex saw an 8 percent increase in the last 10 years, the number of men reporting the same has nearly tripled to a staggering 28 percent.
“There are more people in their twenties who don’t have a live-in partner,” Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University who cited a number of facts that may have contributed to the higher rates of sexlessness, told The Washington Post. “So under those circumstances I think less sex is going to happen.”
Twenge also pointed to declining rates of labor force participation among men under thirty, as well as increasing rates of men in that age range living with their parents.
“When you’re living at home it’s probably harder to bring sexual partners into your bedroom,” Twenge said.
While the data suggested young Americans are responsible for the sharpest rise of sexlessness, it also revealed a nationwide dry spell. According to the Post, the number of adults who reported having sex at least once a week now sits at 39 percent, down from 51 percent in 1996.
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