State of the Union: Are Couples Having Less Sex?

America is very divided right now, not only in politics, but behind closed doors as well. It’s not just you. In the 1990s, when Boys II Men sang, “I’ll Make Love to You”, married couples were having sex 73 times a year which equals close to twice a week. By the time 2015 rolled around, and Justin Bieber was saying he was “Sorry” to Selena, everything seemed to turn upside down. Married couples were getting it on just 59 times a year – just about once a week plus the occasional holiday.

Single people weren’t doing much better. The average for singles—including those in a relationship was 9 fewer times than just 20 years ago. What gives?

The decline is plain confusing

If you asked a millennial, they would probably guess that this generation is having more sex than ever before. After all, young people are free to do whatever (and whomever) they want, and there are apps like Tinder that make hookups seem like a breeze. However, Americans are having less sex than twenty years ago, when you couldn't "like" someone's provocative picture or send naughty Snapchats.

The Archives of Sexual Behavior published a study in 2017 that stated the large general social survey, or the GSS, discovered that American adults were having sex approximately nine times fewer per year than they had twenty years prior.

Some assumed that the culprits might be longer working hours or the easy accessibility to pornography, but researchers from the University of Chicago argue otherwise. While there is no clear reason why sex has dropped, there are a few theories.

So, how is today’s average couple different than couples of the 90s? What changed? Keep reading to find out.