Married people bemoan their hitched lives as being full of responsibility that puts a drain on their sex lives. They look at their single friends and secretly harbor jealousy over the better and more frequent sex they must be having.
However, that’s not the case. “The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States,” which is pretty much the final word on sexual practices in the United States, states that while 23 percent of single men report not having sex in the last year, only 1 percent of married men would say the same. Another 25 percent of single men have only had sex a few times in the past year, compared to only 13 percent of married men. In fact, a full 43 percent of married men report having sex at least two to three times per week, compared to only 26 percent of single men. You see, married men really are having more sex all around.
The numbers for women are similar. A full 55 percent of single women have had sex a few times or less in the past year; only 15 percent of married women would say the same. On the other hand, 39 percent of married women report having sex at least two to three times per week, compared to only 20 percent of single women who say the same.
Another study, published by the National Opinion Research Council in 2006, looked at the average number of times people had sex in a year. Married people had sex an average of 66.3 times per year, compared to 61.9 times per year for those who were never married. Even amongst those eighteen to twenty-nine years old, who may be considered the most likely to have sex, those who were married had sex an average of 109.1 times a year, compared to 73.4 times a year in those never married.
Additionally, 75 percent of married women reported “usually” or “always” achieving orgasm, while only 62 percent of their single pals said the same. And the benefits of marriage don’t end there—married people are also more likely to give and receive oral sex. While 71 percent of men reported performing oral sex before marriage, that figure is around 80 percent for married men. Similarly, only 62 percent of women reported performing oral sex before marriage and 71 percent reported performing it while married. Similarly, greater percentages of married women and men report having received oral sex than single women and men.
So, married people shouldn’t necessarily envy the sex lives of their single friends—perhaps their single friends should be envying them.
MYTH, HALF-TRUTH, OR OUTRIGHT LIE?
Women lose interest in sex after menopause
According to “The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States,” about 69 percent of women in their forties and 48 percent of women in their fifties have sex at least a few times per month. Only 30 percent of women in their fifties report not having sex in the last year. A 2004 article in Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society highlights all the variables that may be attributed to a woman’s decrease in sexual desire: age, quality and length of sexual relationship(s), physical health (including menopause status), sexual experience, and mental health/personality. Some studies have found that menopause actually has an indirect effect on female sexual desire. While menopause symptoms can certainly affect well-being, which affects how one responds sexually, which affects how often one has sex, it’s not really a direct link, so this one is a half-truth.