Does Less Sex Equate To Declining Birth Numbers?

"We don't know to what extent ['aggressive' or 'rough sex'] may be driving some people to opt out, but we do know that some people are feeling frightened and don't know what to make of what's being presented to them, especially young adults."

"Solo and partnered adolescent sexual exploration are developmentally normative, offer opportunities for learning and joy, and are supportive of adult sexual development."

Tsung-chieh (Jane) Fu, (and colleagues) Paper on sexual activity

Joe Saunders / Flickr

In mid-January a Leger poll meant to measure the prevalence of sexual activity among various age groups asked survey participants a number of questions, all of which boiled down to the frequency of sexual activity among married, single, teens and other age groups in an effort to come to an understanding why it is that populations everywhere appear to have disengaged in frequent sexual activity. This diminished activity puzzled social scientists, some of whom have written books relating to the phenomenon.

 

The Leger poll found that a quarter (27 percent) of adult respondents said their sexual activity took place at least once weekly; 32 percent engage in sex at least once a month; one in seven people engage less than once a month (14 percent) or not at all (15 percent). Multiple studies that took place pre-pandemic documented declines in "all modes or partnered sex queried". 

 

The proportion of 18- to 49-year-olds who reported no sexual activity in the prior year rose from 24 percent in 2009, to 28 percent in 2018 in one U.S. report. Reporting neither solo nor partnered sex among 14- to 17-year-olds rose from 28.8 percent of young men and 49.5 percent of young women in 2009, to 43.3 percent of young men and 74 percent of young women in 2018.

 

Sexting and ready access to sexually explicit media "have added a new medium" for sexual experiences without physical partnered sex, wrote the authors. Teens are spending more time playing computer games, they're drinking less, and opting to engage in less risky behaviour altogether. It is felt that the issues of #MeToo along with other movements raising conversations around consent have been involved. Linked to that is the prevalence of aggressive or 'rough sex' (choking during sex) technically strangulation that can have lethal consequences despite consensuality.

 

Declining sex among adults raises concerns relating to human fertility, relationship happiness, human connection and intimacy, researchers concluded. Studies link an active sex life with lesser depression, prostate and breast cancer, and fatal coronary events. A recent study discovered that individuals having sex less frequently than 12 times yearly face a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. More frequent sex decreases the risk. Some 52 to 103 times per year is considered health-ideal. 

On the other hand, researchers warn that excessive sexual activity correlates with harmful effects (over 365 times yearly or higher) when "a negative correlation began to emerge" capable of triggering "sympathetic overexcitement" leading to cells lining the blood vessels being damaged, creating blood clots and allied negative outcomes. 

One University of British Columbia research study found that higher levels of COVID-related stress were associated with higher inclinations for sex with a partner. Attributed potentially to an elevated sympathetic nervous system response where stress triggers the "fight or flight" phenomenon, which "may have elicited excitation transfer, thereby increasing sexual response".

 

Over time, "COVID-19 became a chronic stressor on relationships", UBC (University of British Columbia) professor of obstetrics and gynecology Dr. Lori Brotto observed, when the study was released. COVID-related restrictions correlated with higher rates of sexual dysfunction and reduced sexual activity, other studies found -- changes that were greater in women in comparison with men.