Partnered Sex of All Kinds Declines in U.S.

Partnered sex has been declining across all demographics in the U.S.

An Indiana University study (2009–2018) found that both teens and adults were having less sex even before the pandemic. The CDC’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey echoes this trend, showing that the percentage of high schoolers who’ve ever had sex dropped from 54% in 1991 to 32% in 2023. Experts point to cultural shifts, increased isolation, and growing restrictions on reproductive rights and bodily autonomy as contributing factors.

Additionally, findings from the CDC’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) confirm that this trend persists among teens, with the percentage of high school students who reported ever having had sex dropping from 54% in 1991 to 32% in 2023. Notably, when the survey was first administered in the 1990’s responders were simply asked if they had ever had sexual intercourse. Over time, questions have expanded to ask about specific sex acts, which could indicate that the drop in sexually active teens is even more significant than the numbers indicate.

Although continued research is needed to fully understand the causes of this decline, there are a number of likely contributing factors, with some seeming more encouraging than others.

For example, the researchers in the Indiana study suggest that cultural and social changes—such as increased internet access, decreased alcohol use, more conversations about sexual consent, and a rise in young people identifying with queer identities—may be influencing sexual behavior among youth.

However, some experts are concerned that this decline could indicate growing social isolation across all age groups.

Dr. J. Dennis Fortenberry, a professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, told the American Social Health Association that the decline in partnered sex may mean younger generations miss out on important developmental milestones. He also suggested a link between mental health struggles and the decline in partnered sexual behavior, with isolation, depression, anxiety, and a lack of connection among young people as significant contributing factors.

Additionally, Heather Corinna, founder of the sexuality education website, Scarleteen, and OBOS Sexualities, Gender, and Relationships chair, says, “Particularly from 9/11 on, and with things like increasing climate change, the loss of reproductive rights and other bodily autonomy, and rising fascism, fear is absolutely a constant for many younger people. That obviously comes into play directly with things like worries about unwanted pregnancy, or sexual details being maliciously shared on social media, but it’s also indirect: as every sex educator knows fear and anxiety tend to be big impediments to sexual desire." Corinna explains that some of this fear is fueled by purity culture, a set of conservative beliefs emphasizing sexual abstinence before marriage and focusing on women's modesty and purity. “It’s easy to think that we exist in a more sex-positive culture in 2025 than in the 1990s, but I’m not sure that’s actually true. Young people in the last two decades have been deeply impacted by backlash to the sex-positive culture of the 90s.” Such shifts in social attitudes have affected everything from access to reproductive healthcare to sex education.

Ultimately, understanding the full implications of this decline requires us to consider not only the changing social and political landscape, but also the potential long-term effects of mental health and current adolescent development.

The researchers noted that a number of cultural and social changes may be affecting young people’s sexual behavior, including widespread internet access, decreased alcohol use, increased conversations around sexual consent, and more contemporary young people identifying with non-heterosexual identities, including asexual identities.

SOURCE: Indiana University • AUTHOR: Ellen Friedrichs and Heather Corinna • LAST UPDATED: December 7, 2021