Millennial women having twice as much sex as older generations but half as many orgasms
The survey was conducted ahead of Sexual Happiness Day on Sunday
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.In the latest bout of bad news for millennials, a new survey suggests that while young women are having twice as much sex as older women, they’re also having half as many orgasms.
Research conducted by online sex toy retailer Lovehoney found that 39 per cent of women aged 18 to 25 are having sex more than twice a week, but only one in three (36 per cent) of them always have an orgasm with their partner, compared to 63 per cent of women over the age of 45.
The survey of 2,100 people aged 18 to 70 looked at how sexual behaviours and satisfaction differ across age ranges and its results clearly showed higher rates of satisfaction in older groups.
More than one in six people aged 46-50 (16 per cent) rated their levels of sexual happiness as 10/10 and 14 per cent of 51-55-year-olds also gave themselves top marks.
But these figures dropped to 11 per cent for under-25s and 10 per cent for those aged 31 to 35.
As for what people enjoy most about sex, the survey identified different reasons among younger and older women, with 77 per cent of under-25s citing “fun” compared to 58 per cent of over 45s, many of whom said they value an emotional connection the most.
Young people also use sex more as a confidence booster, the survey found, with 47 per cent of respondents under 25 saying sex improved their self-confidence, compared to 35 per cent of those aged 25-44 and 22 per cent of over-45s.
“It is great to see millennials are having sex far more frequently than previous research has suggested,” commented a spokesperson for Lovehoney in reference to recent studies that claim millennials have less sex than older generations.
“They are using sex positively to boost their levels of self-confidence and escape the stresses of modern life,” they added.
“However, they could certainly learn a trick or two from older people about increasing their levels of sexual satisfaction and orgasm frequency. The extremely high scores for sexual happiness in the over-45s show how experience can enhance stimulation and improve bedroom performance.”
The research was conducted by Lovehoney ahead of Sexual Happiness Day, which takes place on Sunday 21 April.
Lovehoney's findings come after a 2017 study found that heterosexual women have fewer orgasms during sex than any other demographic.
It found that heterosexual men were most likely to say they usually or always orgasm when they’re sexually intimate, with 95 per cent agreeing. The next group most likely to orgasm were gay men (89 per cent) followed by bisexual men (88 per cent). But disappointingly for women of all sexual orientations, all three male demographics came above the female groups.
These “orgasm gaps” were attributed to sociocultural and evolutionary factors by the study's authors.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments