More Young Adult Americans Living Sexless Lives, Especially the Religiously Devout: Study – by Leonardo Blair
Excerpts:
Young adult Americans 35 years and under are having much less sex than previous generations, and the biggest increase in sexlessness is among the dwindling population of the religiously devout, a new research brief from the Institute for Family Studies suggests.
The data highlighted in the brief from IFS research fellow Lyman Stone suggests that from 2008 to 2021, the share of young adults forgoing sex more than doubled from 8% to 21%.
The data was fielded from the 2021 General Social Survey from NORC at the University of Chicago.
Since 2010, “there has been a sharp rise in the share of males and females ages 18 to 35 who report not having sex in the prior year,” Stone reported.
While married young adults are less likely to be leading sexless lives, there has been a growing trend of delayed marriage among young adults, contributing to a worsening of the problem, Stone wrote.
…Multiple studies have previously shown how factors like high unemployment among men have contributed to declining marriage rates. It was reported last year that a record 35% of American adults ages 25 to 50 had never been married. The economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a further decline.
The report “Mismatches in the Marriage Market,” headed by a scholar from Cornell University and published in 2019, also noted that America faces a significant shortage of highly educated “economically attractive” unmarried men who earn at least $53,000 per year and have a college degree.
Experts argued the situation could result in unmarried women remaining unmarried or marrying not as well-suited partners.
However, in his brief, Stone contends that while delayed marriage is a significant factor in the rising trend of sexlessness among young adults, it isn’t the complete picture.
The analysis found opinions of premarital sex among young adults, which skews 70% in support of the practice and 30% against, according to recent studies, have also played a role.
Young adults who say premarital sex is wrong, explains Stone, have consistently been about two to three times as likely to be sexually abstinent for several decades.
“It seems like most of the increase in sexlessness among never-married under-35s has been among those who say premarital sex is at least sometimes wrong,” Stone found.
“Though it is true they are a minority of never-married individuals in this age group, their distinctive behaviors are driving the trend. In other words, much of the rise in sexlessness has been driven by people who have moral concerns about premarital sex. It might be better to call it abstinence than sexlessness, since it’s consistent with expressed values.”
And Stone argues that most young adults who choose not to have sex because they believe premarital sex is wrong are primarily from the religiously devout demographic.
More of that (Link): here
Related:
(Link): Single Men Just Don’t Care About Sex Anymore, Study Says
(Link): The Rise of Delayed Marriage and Female Friendship – article from The Atlantic
(Link): Study: Americans Having Less Sex; Video Streaming May Be To Blame
(Link): The Many Reasons That People Are Having Less Sex (2017 article via BBC News)
(Link): When Women Wanted Sex Much More Than Men – and how the stereotype flipped
(Link): Young Adults Are Having Less Casual Sex. A New Study Found 3 Reasons Why by Ross Pomeroy
(Link): Americans Having Less Sex Now, Says 2017 Study
(Link): Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex? America is in a Sex Recession – by K. Jullian – via The Atlantic
(Link): Young Adults Are Having Less Casual Sex. A New Study Found 3 Reasons Why by Ross Pomeroy
(Link): Young, Attractive, and Totally Not Into Having Sex by K McGowan
(Link): Teens Too Busy Playing Video Games to Have Sex
(Link): CDC Report: Virgin Teens Much Healthier Than Their Sexually Active Peers (2016 Report)
(Link): More Than 40 Per Cent of Japan’s Adult Singles are Virgins, Says Study
(Link): Why Aren’t Millennials Having Sex Anymore? via Relevant Magazine
(Link): An Editorial That Misses the Mark: More Women Have Joyless Sex Than You Think by Amy Wax
(Link): Having Less Sex Could Trigger Menopause Earlier 2020 Study Says
(Link): What Christians Really Think About the Church’s Relationship Advice by Anna Broadway
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