American Adults Having Less Sex Than Ever, Gen Z Shows Steepest Decline - Study

New research from the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) found that American adults are having less sex than ever, continuing a decades-long trend.

The Details: Only 37% of adults aged 18-64 reported having sex at least once weekly, down from 55% in 1990. Young adults showed a sharper decline, with 24% of people aged 18-29 saying they haven’t had sex in over a year, a figure that has doubled since 2010. But it’s not just young people having less sex; the study showed cohorts of all sexual orientations up to age 64 followed the downward trend. It also found that adults aged 18-29 only spent around 5 hours weekly socializing with friends, down from over 12 in 2010.

Potential Contributors: A report and analysis from The Wall Street Journal (Center bias) framed the findings as coming amid a “downward shift in sexual activity that has been worrying sociologists and psychologists for decades.” The Journal suggested that diminishing social skills, the rise of internet pornography, decreased cohabitation rates, excessive screen time, economic pressure, poor work-life balance, and anxiety over news media could all be contributors.

Perspectives: Unekwu Yakubu, a 35-year-old biochemist from San Francisco, told The Journal she hasn’t had sex in a few years and that she is burned out on dating because, in The Journal’s words, it’s “expensive,” dating apps are “exhausting,” and potential partners are “less eager” to meet in person. Mark Regnerus, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told Newsweek (Center) that people are being “electronically led away from human contact, away from those we have long trusted, and toward a world of disconnected authorities” that has replaced the family. Shadeen Francis, a sex and relationship therapist from Philadelphia, told The Journal, “We’re experiencing a long-term atrophy of the skills it takes to maintain relationships.”

How The Media Covered It: The IFS’ report, published on August 30, was not widely covered by mainstream media outlets. AllSides found coverage from The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Post Millennial (Right), and UnHerd (Center).

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