Study: Pressures of Modern Life Causing Britons to Have Sex Less Than Five Times a Month; More Women Having Sex With Women
Results of a sweeping, once-a-decade poll of 15,000 Britons, show that adults aged 16-44 were having sex less than five times a month, and the authors of the study believe the pressures of modern life may be affecting how frequently people have sex.
"People are worried about their jobs, worried about money. They are not in the mood for sex," said one of the authors of the study published in The Lancet, Dr. Cath Mercer of the University College London, in a BBC report.
"But we also think modern technologies are behind the trend too. People have tablets and smartphones and they are taking them into the bedroom, using Twitter and Facebook, answering emails."
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Mercer pointed out that the survey suggested that couples in the polled age group may using online porn as a substitute for sex.
Men reported having sex an average of just 4.9 times per month after being polled between 2010 and 2012 while women reported having sex an average of 4.8 times a month. Previous averages for both sexes was more than six times a month.
A section of the study also highlighted that 42 percent of women and 60 percent of men in the age group 65 to 74 had sex in the last year. Men in that age group reported having sex an average of 2.3 times a month while women reported having sex 1.4 times a month.
Men aged 25 to 34 reported having the most sex among males in the studied cohort at an average of 5.4 times a month, while women aged 16 to 24 reported having sex the most among women at an average of 5.8 times a month.
The average age at which people first started having sex was also lower in the younger age groups.
Among respondents under 25, the average age of first sexual encounter was 16. Adults 65-74, however, reported that they first had sex at 19 for men and 18 for women.
The study also highlighted that heterosexual adults reported an increase in the number of sexual partners among both men and woman and that more women were having sex with women.
