Newsflash: The Internet Is Ruining Your Sex Life

The idea that millennials are having less sex these days isn’t a new one, and while several studies have claimed that our sex lives are still healthy and active, we’re not so sure. According to new data, we’re just not doing it very much these days, and it’s all down to the internet.

  1. Our sex lives are in rapid decline. According to research performed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine of 34,000 men and women aged 16 to 44 between 1991 and 2012, the rate of sex we’re having is continually declining, with less than 50% of British people having sex at least once a week. Yikes!
  2. The romance really is gone. The report revealed that less sex is being had by couples who live together and those who are over the age of 25, which kind of makes sense. By the time you move in with your S.O., the honeymoon period is over and you’re not going at it like rabbits. Also, the older you get, the less allure sex tends to have because it’s not new anymore.
  3. A lot of people aren’t even doing it once a month. According to the 2012 survey the researchers analyzed, 29.3% of women and 29.2% of men admitted that they hadn’t had sex in the past month. This was a big jump from the previous survey, where the numbers were 23% and 26% respectively.
  4. Our health and wealth levels play a big role in our sex drive, of course. Those who were mentally and physically healthier reported having more sex, a fact which makes total sense. After all, you’re less likely to want a roll in the hay if you don’t feel well, right? Same goes for people who were employed full-time and financially comfortable—they tended to want to get down more too.
  5. The “sheer pace of modern life” is to blame. According to lead study author Professor Kaye Welling, “Several factors are likely to explain this decline, but one may be the sheer pace of modern life. … What is important to well-being is not how often people have sex but whether it matters to them. More than half of the men and women taking part in the study said they’d prefer to have sex more often, which could partly stem from unfavorable comparisons with what they think is the norm. Most people believe that others have more regular sex than they do themselves. Many people are likely to find it reassuring that they are not out of line.”
  6. There’s also the fact that women are feeling less like indulging men’s sexual demands. “Where women might previously have felt obliged to meet their partner’s sexual needs irrespective of their own, they might now be less inclined to do so. Most compelling among the explanations, perhaps, given the age and marital status of the people most affected, relates to the stress and ‘busyness’ of modern life, such that work, family life, and leisure are constantly juggled,” explains the report.
  7. Really, it’s all the internet’s fault. Finally, the report insists that “life in the digital age is considerably more complex than in previous eras, the boundary between the private space of home and the public world outside is blurred, and the internet offers considerable scope for diversion.” In other words, we need to be putting down our phones a bit more if we want to get laid.

[H/T The Independent]

Piper Ryan is a NYC-based writer and matchmaker who works to bring millennials who are sick of dating apps and the bar scene together in an organic and efficient way. To date, she's paired up more than 120 couples, many of whom have gone on to get married. Her work has been highlighted in The New York Times, Time Out New York, The Cut, and many more.

In addition to runnnig her own business, Piper is passionate about charity work, advocating for vulnerable women and children in her local area and across the country. She is currently working on her first book, a non-fiction collection of stories focusing on female empowerment.
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