According to a recent CNN news report, fewer Americans are having sex, living together, and getting married than ever before.
This may seem to make sense when you take into account the recent Covid pandemic and lockdowns. But the truth is that this is just another stepping stone in a downward trend that’s been happening since the end of the 1980s.
Listen to just a few of these statistics:
- The U.S. is at a 30-year low when it comes to sex between adults
- 26% of Americans ages 18 and up didn’t have sex once over the past 12 months
- This is up from statistics in 2016 and 2018, where the number of adults saying that they didn’t have sex once in the past year was 23%
- Before 2004, the highest percentage of Americans who said that they hadn’t had sex in the past year was 19%
- Last year, more than 50% of Americans reported having sex once per month or less
- Among married couples under the age of 60, 26% had sex once a month or less in 2021
- This is up more than double from the same statistic from the late 80s, which said that 12% of married couples under the age of 60 reported having sex once per month or less in 1989
So, why is this happening?
Why are humans having less sex?
Also, is this a bad thing—or are these numbers not such a big deal?
Let’s dive into it.
A General Assessment Of The Situation
First of all, there are basically two schools of thought about why these numbers strike an unhealthy and/or potentially problematic chord.
First off, less sex means less human intimate connection.
And secondly, it means fewer children, fewer families, and an increasingly aging population.
This goes right in line with the trend of declining birth rates in the United States—and it’s absolutely true that these statistics are probably linked in a number of different ways.
Now, as for a cause behind having less sex—well, it’s hard to pinpoint it.
It’s possible that more and more people are focusing on their careers.
It’s also possible that, since we live in a more ‘digitized age,’ fewer and fewer people are interacting in person. Thus, less sex is bound to happen when humans need to literally go ‘out of their way’ to pursue sexual relations.
The big question is this:
Are the people who aren’t having sex happy about it? Or do they wish that they were having more of it?
At the end of the day, we’re all responsible for our own happiness and fulfillment in life. So if you’re not super happy about your current dating/sex/intimacy situation, it may benefit you to set yourself to the task of trying to figure out how to iron out the problems and find greater success in this important area of life.
Increasing your odds for success in the dating world isn’t always easy. But as with any problem, it may just take some research, fact-finding, and a solid plan to figure out.