Americans Are Having Less Sex Than Ever

Married, single, young, old—a new study says Americans are in a sex recession. We asked the experts how to end the drought. Americans Are Having Less Sex Than Ever

Lost your mojo?

You’re not the only one.

America Is In Need Of Some Sexual Healing

We should be careful about letting our sex lives slide, therapists say. Sex makes us healthier—boosting our immune system, relieving stress, and helping us sleep.

It connects us to our partner and makes us happier. It can even make us feel as if we have more meaning in life.

They’ve Got Advice: If you’re single and you would like a partner, focus on meeting people in real-life settings, hopefully doing something you love. If you have a partner, go to bed at the same time. Opportunity fuels action!

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And, for heaven’s sake, put down your screen. “You want the first thing you touch when you get into bed to be your partner, not your phone,” says Michelle Drouin, a professor of psychology at Purdue University, Fort Wayne, who studies the intersection of relationships and technology.

Americans are having a record low amount of sex—even less than they did during the Covid-19 pandemic—according to a new study led by researchers at the Institute for Family Studies.

This continues the downward shift in sexual activity that has been worrying sociologists and psychologists for decades.

For the report, called “The Sex Recession,” researchers at the IFS analyzed the data on sex and intimacy in the latest General Social Survey produced by NORC at the University of Chicago, which was collected in 2024 and released in May.

They found that just 37% of people age 18-64 reported having sex at least once a week, down from 55% in 1990. The decline is even more striking for young adults: Almost a quarter of people age 18-29, or 24%, said they had not had sex in the past year; this is twice as many as in 2010.

Much has been written in recent years about the trend of young people having less sex, attributed to everything from stunted social skills to a rise in internet pornography.

Yet the IFS study shows that the same trend holds true for people up to the age of 64, of all sexual orientations, both married and single.

(After age 64, there was no significant change in the amount of sex people have, largely because this group reports having sex less frequently to begin with, the researchers said.)

There are a number of decadeslong trends at play, including declining marriage and cohabitation rates. (People who live with a romantic partner tend to have more sex.)

We’ve also become so addicted to our screens that we’ve normalized the experience of staring at them rather than interacting with the person sitting next to us.

“People are ‘bedrotting,’ ” says Brad Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and a senior fellow at the IFS, who co-wrote the study.

And now we appear to be having a moment: Although Americans had slightly more sex after the pandemic eased, current rates have dropped even lower than during the lockdown period, when fear and stress killed our libidos.

The sex researchers and therapists I talked to believe we are in a postpostpandemic malaise: We’re struggling to rebuild our social lives, navigate a work-life balance and manage a growing sense of uncertainty about the world.

Let’s Hear Them Out:

“We’re experiencing a long-term atrophy of the skills it takes to maintain relationships,” says Shadeen Francis, a sex and relationship therapist in Philadelphia.

“We’re in a heightened fight-or-flight response because of all the chaos,” says Lee Phillips, a sex therapist in New York.

“If you are exhausted and distracted, do you want to have sex tonight? NO!” says Justin Garcia, executive director of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University.

While reporting this story, I talked to people who said that they were having less sex for all the age-old reasons: the exhaustion of parenting, relationship issues or age.

But others had more of-the-moment reasons: Worries about the economy, stress about the news or an unhealthy attachment to their screens. (Netflix, Xbox and X all got blamed.)

One couple said they would rather catch up on their sleep than have sex. Several women cited worries about reproductive rights.

Quite a few single people explained that they had stopped dating—and therefore having sex—because it was too expensive or disappointing.

“I definitely miss sex,” says Cameron Chapman, 41, a technology writer in rural Vermont who has decided that she’s happier being single. “But I don’t want to give up my independence and freedom for a relationship.”

Unekwu Yakubu, a 35-year-old biochemist in San Francisco, hasn’t had sex since her long-distance relationship ended a few years ago. She says she’d like to find a new boyfriend but is burned out on dating.

It’s expensive. The apps are exhausting. And she finds potential matches to be pickier than before the pandemic, less eager to get up off the couch and meet in person.

So Yakubu has decided to focus on her career and social life for now—joining a book club, volunteering, and attending several in-person events a week, such as picnics or open-mic nights.

“These things have a more immediate and positive effect on my emotional well-being,” she says.

Laurie Mintz, 65, says her libido tanked when she was going through a tough time recently, juggling a big work deadline and caring for sick family members.

Typically, she and her husband of 40 years had sex every Sunday night, but she no longer felt motivated. “When Sunday came along, I just wanted to keep working or worrying,” she said.

Mintz, who lives in Gainesville, Fla., is a psychologist and sex therapist and knew what to do.

She rearranged her schedule to be more efficient and started exercising every day, to relieve stress. She also made herself stop ruminating over things she can’t control.

Most important, she decided to prioritize sex again, telling herself that it’s just as important as everything else in her life. She recommitted to weekly dates with her husband—no skipping, no matter what.

“Sex is like going to the gym,” she says. “Sometimes you feel like you don’t want to do it, but you always feel better afterwards.”

Updated: 9-20-2025

US Population Decline Sooner Than Expected As Deaths To Outpace Births In America By 2031

The US population is approaching a critical demographic milestone as deaths are now projected to exceed births as early as 2031, two years earlier than previously expected.

This shift signals a trend toward near-zero population growth, raising concerns about the country’s economic future and social support systems.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) updated its population projections in September 2025, attributing the accelerated timing mainly to declining fertility rates and tightened immigration enforcement resulting from the Trump administration’s recent immigration policies.

America’s Birth/Death Rates

In the U.S., projections indicate that deaths are expected to exceed births by 2031, primarily due to declining fertility rates and stricter immigration policies. This demographic shift raises concerns about the future economic and social implications for the country.

The Trump-era One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with its aggressive immigration crackdown, is projected to reduce immigration flows significantly, further dampening population growth.

According to the CBO, from 2026 to 2029, about 290,000 immigrants are expected to be removed from the country under this new legislation, plus an additional 30,000 departures considered voluntary.

This reduction in immigrant families, historically contributing higher birth rates, coupled with a natural decrease in fertility rates, accelerates the timing when deaths surpass births.

Currently, the US population stands around 350 million and was previously expected to grow to 372 million by 2055. These new projections estimate a smaller overall population of 367 million by that year.

Moreover, the working-age population is expected to shrink, posing a risk to the labor supply critical for sustained economic growth.

This demographic change carries profound economic and social implications. A shrinking workforce threatens to slow economic productivity, increase prices, and strain programs such as Social Security and Medicare as the retiree population grows.

Additionally, shortages in caregiving professions and essential services like agriculture and construction may intensify.

While immigration has long served as the main driver of U.S. population growth amid declining birth rates, the stricter policies in place curtail this trend.

Some analysts even warn that net negative immigration-more people leaving than entering-could precipitate population decline sooner than official projections.

Despite these challenges, the CBO emphasizes the inherent uncertainty in population forecasts, which remain sensitive to policy shifts and external factors such as public health.

Notably, the agency still anticipates positive net immigration in 2025, primarily due to an increase in lawful permanent residents offsetting declines in unauthorized immigration.

In conclusion, the convergence of lower birth rates and aggressive immigration enforcement signals a turning point in U.S. demographic dynamics.

Policymakers face the urgent task of addressing this population slowdown’s economic repercussions while balancing immigration regulations and social welfare needs.

These projections serve as a warning that without adaptive strategies, the nation’s population growth trajectory may stall or even reverse, ushering in complex challenges for its economic and social fabric.

Americans Are Having Less Sex Than Ever

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