Data from a recent study shows that young men between ages 18-24 are having less sex than years previous. From 2000 to 2018, around one in three U.S men between the ages of 18 to 24 in the study reported no sexual activity within the previous year.
Additionally, there was a decrease in sexual activity in men and women ages 25-34, although not as drastic as men age 18-24. Data was collected from 10,000 men and women between the ages of 18-44. Between 2016-2018, 16.5% of respondents reported less sexual activity compared to 9.5% of respondents reporting less sexual activity between 2000-2002.
There are now many more choices of things to do in the late evening than there once were and fewer opportunities to initiate sexual activity if both partners are engrossed in social media, electronic gaming, or binge watching.
-Jean Twenge, department of psychology in San Diego State University
Recommended: Data Shows How to Protect Against Coronavirus and We Address Conspiracy Theories
The decrease in sexual activity is likely due to a number of factors. Likely factors include increased usage of social media and electronic gaming, as well as the stress of managing work and intimate relationships.
Men with lower income, or who were unemployed, along with both male and female students were more likely to be less sexually active. Unmarried women, as well as gay men, saw no notable decline in sexual activity.
Given a preference for men of higher socioeconomic status and the larger number of college-educated women than men, some young men may find it difficult to form heterosexual relationships, the researchers note.
–Young U.S. men having a lot less sex in the 21st century, study shows