You might think the current flood of
dating apps
would mean people are having more sex
than
ever, but in fact for many, the exact
opposite
seems to be true. Gasp!
A new study published by the journal
Archives of
Sexual Behavior and reported by the
Washington
Post found that people are having less
sex
overall than they were in the 1990s.
The study, which used data from the
giant
General Social Survey, found that on the
whole
American adults in the early 2010s had
sex nine
fewer times per year than they did in the
1990s.
When you spread that over 12 months,
that’s not
exactly a heinous dry spell, thank
goodness. Still,
more sex is usually better than less.
The decrease was seen across gender,
race,
region, education, and employment
status. One
reason for the drop? There are now more
people
without partners, who typically tend to
have half
the sex that those with partners do. But
even
married people (and those living with
partners)
aren’t doing it as much.
SEE ALSO: When it comes to sex, older
people
are just like the rest of us: Horny as
hell
There used to be what was called the
“marriage
advantage,” meaning that those who
were
partnered up had more sex because they
had a
ready and willing partner at hand. But
that has
sadly disappeared. In 1990, married
people had
sex around 73 times per year, according
to
reports. By 2014, that was down to 55.
Comparatively, that number for
unpartnered
people stayed level—about 59 times per
year.
Even with Match and OKCupid and
Tinder,
singles aren’t really hooking up more
than when
you had to meet people the old-
fashioned way.
So why are the married among us failing
to get
busy with each other? The study
suggests it may
be because they’re too busy doing other
things,
like sending work emails or playing
games on
their phone. After all, how many nights
have you
sat in bed combing through your feeds,
oblivious
to the person next to you?
SEE ALSO: The best dating apps to get
you laid
We’re also less happy overall, are more
depressed, and are taking more
antidepressants
as a result. All of these things aren’t
exactly
known for putting people in the mood.
We do
know, based on the data, that the
decline isn’t
due to people working longer hours or
consuming
more porn.
Of course, just because this is
happening on
average doesn’t mean it has to happen
to you.
You can put the phone down and look at
your
partner again. And if you’re single, you
can pick
up the phone and try to find a match who
makes
you want to do more than just look at
your
phone.