Millennials are not getting laid as much as their parents did at the same age, according to a new study published in The Archives of Sexual Behavior. Millennials were born roughly from 1983-2000. And the younger the Gen Y millennial is, the less sex he or she is having. Their parents, Baby Boomers and Gen X’rs, did not use the internet as much when they were 19-29, so researchers think all the Tindering, Grindering, and Facebooking people are doing leads to less sex. And why is this? It’s complicated.
Unlike divorced daters over 50 who are apparently getting laid like crazy, 20-somethings who date online say they don’t meet as much face to face, which is weird considering they spend all day swiping and messaging each other. “When it comes time to meet, I get “ghosted” and the guy never follows up,” reports my 21-year-old female cousin. Millennials of both sexes are also terrified of getting STD’s which is another big reason. Add the fear of emotional involvement and dating sites “filled with douchebags who think they deserve at least a 9” says my (hot) cousin, and people get laid less than we thought they did.
Another component is fear and anxiety about consent, from both boys who are not sure exactly how to ask for consent, and girls who fear getting date raped by the bro they just met on Tinder. Another big reason for less sex is that more people in their 20’s are still living with their parents, which is always a sexy time killer.
The study was conducted by Jean Twenge who wrote Generation Me; Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled, — and More Miserable Than Ever Before, and Brooke Wells from Widener University. They report that 20-somethings “showed elevated rates of adult sexual inactivity.”