National surveys suggest Americans are having less sex. Here’s why — or if — it matters to the future
March 24, 2021
A growing share of American adults under age 50 were celibate in 2018, compared to national survey findings in previous years. That, combined with a long-tail trend of fewer teens having sex has created speculation that America is in a “sex recession” — or even a “sex depression.”
But a new analysis for the Institute for Family Studies of national data by Nicholas Wolfinger, a professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies at the University of Utah, suggests it’s too soon to play “Taps” for sexual activity. There’s not a long enough timeline on the available data, which “should lead us to hold on a second before we make pronouncements about the death of sex,” he said.
