Sex and romance?

Did you know that sex and romance was the third highest issue likely to cause concern in a relationship according to One Plus One’s survey. Sex can be a great part of our relationships, but when things are difficult it can be painful and upsetting. Below are some statistics about British sexual attitudes and behaviour:

What do other people think about sex before marriage?

• 70% of the population think that “premarital sex is rarely or not wrong at all”. (1)

What do other people think about extra-marital sex ?

• 84% of the population think that “extra marital sex is mostly or always wrong”. (1)
• According to the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles survey (NATSAL, 2000) 14.6% of men and 9.0% of women had had two concurrent sexual partners in the last year. (2)

How many sexual partners have other people had?

According to a YouGov poll in 2006 most people had had between 2 and 5 sexual partners. (3)
• The average number of sexual partners in a lifetime for men is 12.7 and for women 6.5. (2)

Do other people have ‘enough’ sex?

• 24% of men and 15% of women felt that they didn’t have enough sex. (3)

At what age do most people lose their virginity?

• Most people lose their virginity over the age of 18 and they chose to do so because they were in love or thought it was the right time. (3)

How often do other people have sex?

• Of those people aged between 16 and 44 in a heterosexual relationship most people had sex just over 1.5 times per week. (2)
• In a recent survey for GMTV it was found that 80% of people are so exhausted they would prefer sleep over sex.(3)

References

1. Duncan, S. & Phillips, M. (2008). New families? Tradition and change in modern relationships in Park, A. et al., eds British Social Attitudes: the 24th Report 2007/2008. London: Sage, 2008.
The Lancet, 358, pp.1835-1842.
2. You Gov. (2006). Sex Lives YouGov / This Morning Survey Results. Available from http://www.yougov.co.uk/extranets/ygarchives/content/archivesMain.asp?rID=4
3. GMTV. (2009). GMTV Sleep survey. Available from http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=33515