Americans are having a record low amount of sex, even less than during the pandemic

Americans are reporting less sex than ever before, hitting record lows. In 1990, 55% of adults aged 18–64 told the General Social Survey (GSS) they were having sex weekly. But by 2010, that number had dropped below half, and by 2024, only 37% of more than 1,000 men and women surveyed said they had weekly sex.

This “sex recession” has been noted before, including in IFS research. In 2016, Jean Twenge found the trend was driven largely by younger generations having less sex than older ones did at the same age. The reasons include a decline in steady partnerships — particularly marriage — and less frequent sex within couples.

The pattern is clear in the data. From 2014 to 2024, the share of adults aged 18–29 living with a partner (married or not) dropped from 42% to 32%, according to the GSS. Since partnered people tend to have the most regular sex, the decline in young adults pairing up has meant fewer are having sex at all.

The sharpest change comes in sexlessness among young adults. Up until 2010, about 15% of 18–29 year-olds consistently reported not having sex in the past year. But between 2010 and 2024, that share doubled, rising from 12% to 24% in the GSS.

The pattern echoes what Jonathan Haidt described in The Anxious Generation. He calls 2010 to 2015 the “Great Rewiring,” as the spread of smartphones and all-encompassing digital media transformed adolescence. With kids spending more of their lives online, in-person socialization declined, leaving lasting consequences. The digital shift, Haidt argues, has fueled increases in anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide — and the data suggest it also reshaped young people’s intimate lives.