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Americans are having less sex than they once did

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C

Cornballer

Member
- Washington Post: Americans are having less sex than they once did
It used to be that along with certain tax benefits, one advantage to being married was having more sex than singletons.

That benefit is steadily diminishing, according to a study released Tuesday. Overall, American adults are having less sex than they did a quarter century ago, with married people showing the most dramatic decline of all.

The paper, published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, showed a drop across gender, race, region, education level and work status. One factor is the higher percentage now of unpartnered people, who tend to have less sex than partnered ones. But a major driver is a steady fall in the rate of sexual activity for people who are married or living with partners, which reduces what had been known as the “marriage advantage.”

Using 1989-2014 data from the General Social Survey, the study found that American adults have sex seven to nine fewer times per year than in the 1990s. Back then, Americans on average had sex 60 to 62 times a year, but in the early 2000s the frequency began to slip, and by 2014 it had declined to less than 53 times a year.

When looking only at married people, the drop was even sharper — from around 73 times a year in 1990 to around 55 in 2014 — bringing their frequency of sexual activity below that of never-married people. People in that group have sex an average of 59 times a year.
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At the same time, Americans overall became less coupled. In 1986, 66 percent of American adults were living with a partner; by 2014 only 59 percent were, according to GSS data. People who are not in couples, including those who have been married in the past, tend to have sex half as frequently as people who are, the study said.

The report did not list causes for the decline. But it cited possible factors including increased access to entertainment and social media, a decline in happiness among people age 30 and over, higher incidence of depression, and use of antidepressants associated with sexual dysfunction.
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The ubiquity of electronic distraction does not help, she added. “People aren’t looking around saying, ‘Hey, it’s 10 o’clock, what are we going to do?’?”

A major detractor to Americans’ sex lives has been the rising necessity of the two-income family, said Pepper Schwartz, a sociology professor at the University of Washington. “I would say the number one cause for a lack of sex is fatigue,” she said. “You have many more women and men working to create a two-income family to stay middle class or above. .?.?. People’s minds are occupied with things other than the physical connection, and that has increased in modern life, and especially from the ’80s and ’90s and forward.”
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- NY Times: It’s Not Just You. Americans Are Having Less Sex
The report highlighted several cultural changes in recent years that could have contributed to the decline. Americans have far more options these days for different kinds of pleasure — like browsing Facebook and social media, playing video games or watching Netflix.

The adults who were born and grew up during the rise of portable technology and entertainment, millennials and Generation Z, are having sex less often than any previous generation, the study found. So much for the stereotype of twenty-somethings as sexual deviants in a hookup culture.

Still, there is no clear reason for the decline, but the report did rule out two possibilities: longer hours at work and pornography. Americans work longer days, but a busy work life was actually connected with higher sexual frequency. The consumption of pornography, which is now more accessible than ever before, was also tied with a busier sex life.
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E

eizarus

Banned
My money's on work.
Guessing they don't have time for a pumping when so much of the populations is doing two jobs in a day (hearsay)

Shitty sample though. If they included Gaffers, it would average to about 5 times a day with each session lasting 2 hours.
 
S

SliceSabre

Banned
But a major driver is a steady fall in the rate of sexual activity for people who are married or living with partners, which reduces what had been known as the “marriage advantage.”
Click to expand...

Funny how people treat that like a joke that men about to be married make in TV shows but turns out it is actually true.
 
S

Skellig Gra

Member
eizarus said:
My money's on work.
Guessing they don't have time for a pumping when so much of the populations is doing two jobs in a day (hearsay)
Click to expand...

The report specifically ruled it out though. I do somewhat buy in to the "people had a lot less to do before" theory. I remember when I worked at a store in the late 90's, every time it rained heavily people would call up and ask us if we carried condoms.
 
F

FinKL

Member
eizarus said:
My money's on work.
Guessing they don't have time for a pumping when so much of the populations is doing two jobs in a day (hearsay)
Click to expand...

They ruled out work AND pornography as shown in the past, there is a directly correlation between work/pornography and sex (longer worked people have more sex and higher porn consumption led to wanting more sex)

It's obviously social networking/netflix. I bet if they threw some porn on netflix we'd be back to square one considering how easy it is to access stuff and beam it to a tv
 
L

Lorcain

Member
Someone should do a survey for frequency of sex post election. People are too depressed, angry and stressed.
 
V

Violence Jack

Member
Sounds right. But my wife is pregnant, so I've already done my job. Even before though, we weren't having sex nearly as much due to general tiredness from work and other things.
 
Ban Puncher

Ban Puncher

Member
Akira said:
You are already Japan.
Click to expand...

8ac.jpg


Fancy Clown said:
GAF membership skyrocketing
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2013_10_02_16_50_37_by_chibichocobunny-d6p2k4h.jpg
 
G

ghostofsparta

Member
once a week sounds about right. Honestly, porn makes me want to have sex less. If I completely stop watching porn, I'd want to smash every day.
 
S

StanleyStutters

Member
Not too surprised by those numbers. My GF and I have sex at least once a week sometimes 2-3 depending on how often we can see each other. So that probably puts me at around 75-100 a year. We both work FT, live in different towns, and she has a son. Not a lot of free time for either of us to get together. Just gotta make each time extra enjoyable.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
I blame workaholic lifestyles and the need for two incomes to even survive in many areas.

People are tired after work and long commutes.
 
N

narcosis219

Member
eizarus said:
My money's on work.
Guessing they don't have time for a pumping when so much of the populations is doing two jobs in a day (hearsay)
Click to expand...

Article said:
Americans work longer days, but a busy work life was actually connected with higher sexual frequency.
Click to expand...

Interesting

ghostofsparta said:
once a week sounds about right. Honestly, porn makes me want to have sex less. If I completely stop watching porn, I'd want to smash every day.
Click to expand...

Article said:
The consumption of pornography, which is now more accessible than ever before, was also tied with a busier sex life.
Click to expand...

Also interesting
 
B

Bay Maximus

Banned
My guess is it's the porn.

A higher frequency of porn usage correlating with more sex doesn't mean that it's not the cause. How do we know that individuals with lower libidos are not just resorting to porn as opposed to having sex, even if it would still be less frequent relative to their hornier peers? Also, would the "randy group" be having even more sex were it not for porn? I don't see how you rule porn out as a potential cause here.
 
Pilgrimzero

Pilgrimzero

Member
Kid goes to bed at 9:30 and by then I'm about ready for sleep myself. Wife as well.

Just not enough time in the average day of of a working lower-middle class family.
 
V

Viewt

Member
Could it be related to rising obesity rates? Generally, obesity is linked to a decline in libido, so that might be (one of) the culprit(s).
 
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