Americans are in the midst of a “sex recession,” with fewer adults reporting regular intimacy than at any point in recent decades, a recent nationwide survey has revealed. The sharpest decline is among young people, where reports of celibacy have surged.
The number of 18-29-year-olds who went without sex for an entire year more than doubled between 2010 and 2024, going from 12% to 24%, the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) wrote, citing latest figures from the General Social Survey (GSS).
“Young adults are spending less time dating, mating, and getting married, with obvious implications for sex. Indeed, the lack of marriage is why young adults face the brunt of the sex recession,” reads the report. It notes, however, that while married adults tend to report more frequent sex than their single counterparts, they too have seen a steady decline.
Weekly sexual activity among adults aged 18–64 has dropped from 55% in 1990 to just 37% last year, the report adds.
The IFS report links the fall in marital intimacy to the spread of digital technology, arguing that smartphones, computers, and streaming platforms are cutting into time couples spend together.
A reported steep drop in social interaction, brought about by the rise of smartphones and social media, has also contributed to the trend. In 2024, young adults spent less than half as much time with friends as they did in 2010 – 5.1 hours a week as compared to 12.8, respectively.
The trends highlighted by the IFS have been recorded in other countries as well. Research published last November in France suggested that a quarter of all 18-29-year-olds in the country reported having no sexual relations at all over the past year.
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