Are humans nearing an era of sexless relationships? (Part One)

Narrator (GR): While looking at rebroadcasts of TV sitcoms aired in the 1990s like Seinfeld, Two-and-a-Half Men, and Everybody Loves Raymond, I was wondering….? Has sexual activity among consenting adults declined in America over the past 30 years? Or is it my own perspective at age 78 that makes it feel that way?

Gemini: It’s not your imagination, George. The truth is that long-term data, gathered from the General Social Survey, has confirmed a steady, measurable decline in sexual frequency since the 1990s,

Sociologists often refer to this trend as the “sex recession.”

    Specifically, in 1990, roughly 55% of American adults (ages 18–64) reported having sex at least once a week. By 2024, that number dropped to 37%. The average American adult had sex about 60 to 62 times per year in the late 1990s. By the mid-2010s, that average dropped by about 9 encounters per year.

    More surprisingly, George, is that among young adults ,ages 18–29, the percentage reporting no sexual activity at all over the course of a year hovered at 12% to 15% with the rise doubling  to 24% by 2010.

Narrator (GR): I remembering watching Seinfeld with my young children on vacation and being embarrassed with the topics discussed. Is there a definitive answer about what’s driving the decline?

Gemini: While it is easy to assume people are just working longer hours or getting too tired, researchers have actually debunked that; people who work longer hours statistically report slightly higher sexual frequency. Instead, demographers and sociologists point to a few specific shifts:

    The single biggest predictor of regular sexual activity is whether you live with a partner. Americans are marrying much later, and fewer young adults are cohabitating. Between 2014 and 2024 alone, the share of adults, ages 18–29,  living with a partner, fell from 42% to 32%.

    But, surprisingly, the drop isn’t just among single people. Married and cohabitating couples are also having less sex than couples did thirty years ago. In the 1990s, married people actually had sex more often than single people, but that trend inverted by the mid-2000s.

Narrator (GR): How so?

Gemini: Sociologists noted a sharp “hockey-stick” drop after 2010, correlating tightly with the rise of smartphones, streaming media, and ubiquitous internet entertainment. Between 2010 and 2019, the average time young adults spent hanging out with friends in person fell by nearly 50%. Simply put, evening behaviors have shifted; the phone or the television provides easy, solitary dopamine that competes directly with interpersonal intimacy.

    Some sociologists have noted a positive nuance to the decline: a cultural shift toward explicit consent. The drop may partly reflect a greater comfort level for women to say “no” to unwanted advances and a corresponding rise in consideration from their partners.

    A show like Two and a Half Men, which debuted in 2003, was built entirely around Charlie Harper’s lifestyle: treating women as disposable, interchangeable rewards for wealth and charm. By today’s standards, the power dynamics and the casual objectification feel distinctively dated.

    Everybody Loves Raymond captured a very specific, traditional mid-90s dynamic: the exhausted suburban wife and the sports-obsessed, emotionally immature husband where sex was treated like a chore, a bargaining chip, or a rare prize.

    Today’s audiences generally push back against the “inept husband/nagging wife” trope. Modern viewers expect couples on TV to act more like actual partners. The humor in contemporary family shows focuses less on the battle of the sexes and more on the chaotic, shared struggle of modern parenting and economic anxiety.

    Today, with sexual frequency down in reality, media has mirrored that shift. Television has become much more fragmented, focusing on identity, career struggles, platonic friendships, and trauma. The era of the mass-market, sex-obsessed prime-time sitcom has largely given way to a quieter, more careful era of storytelling.

Narrator (GR): So sex for young people? Has it been replaced or discarded in favor of other pastimes?

Gemini: It hasn’t so much been discarded out of disinterest, as it’s been crowded out and priced out by a profound shift in how young people live.  When researchers ask Gen Z and younger Millennials what they are prioritizing instead of sex and dating, the answers are surprisingly practical, digital, and solitary. It isn’t a single pastime that replaced it, but a lifestyle rewiring.

    In a recent 2026 survey of Gen Z adults, a staggering 67% stated they would choose a solid night of sleep over sex. Career security (64%) and personal success (59%) also ranked significantly higher than intimacy. Faced with economic anxiety, high inflation, and a grueling job market, young adults report being structurally exhausted. When energy is scarce, the emotional and physical bandwidth required to pursue a partner is often the first thing cut.

Narrator (GR): Ahhh! The smart phone!

Gemini: Yes and no. The smartphone didn’t just change communication; it fundamentally altered how young people spend their private time.

    Between 2010 and 2024, the amount of time young adults spent hanging out with friends in person plummeted by nearly 60% (dropping from roughly 13 hours a week down to just 5 hours).

    Hours once spent at parties, bars, or third places are now spent streaming, gaming, or scrolling. Video games, social media, and easily accessible explicity online content provide a highly predictable, risk-free stream of dopamine that requires zero vulnerability, zero rejection, and zero effort.

    There is also a massive, practical housing barrier at play. Nearly half of young adults in America now live with their parents—a number driven by skyrocketing rent and real estate costs. Logistically, living in your childhood bedroom well into your twenties is a massive wet blanket on a spontaneous, active sex life. It delays the privacy required to easily transition from casual dating into a regular sexual relationship.

    For decades, the standard social engine for meeting romantic partners was centered around bars, clubs, and drinking. Gen Z drinks significantly less alcohol than Gen X or Millennials did at the same age. Because they are bypassing the nightlife scene, the casual, uninhibited “hookup” opportunities that naturally occurred in those spaces have diminished.

    If there’s is a silver lining to this data. Young people aren’t becoming puritanical; they are becoming highly deliberate. Past generations often viewed sex as an expectation, a social milestone, or a transactional part of dating. Today’s young adults are far more likely to prioritize emotional literacy, safety, and explicit consent. They talk openly about boundaries and are perfectly comfortable remaining single and celibate until they find a relationship that feels authentic and safe.  Sex wasn’t discarded because people lost interest; it was displaced because building a stable life, protecting their mental health, and winding down with a screen simply feels more achievable to them right now.  

    The decline in sexual frequency and changing relationship structures ties directly into a massive, historic shift in demographics. When people have less sex and form fewer partnerships, birth rates drop.

    We are looking at the end of the era of sustained population growth that has defined humanity for the past several thousand years. For the first time since the Black Death in the 14th century, the global human population is projected to begin shrinking.

Narrator (GR): I can see that’s a subject for yet another discussion.

Gemini: Yes. The impact for the future of the planet is immense. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has projected that by 2100, 97% of all countries and territories will have fertility rates below replacement level.

More specifically, Japan and Italy are projected to lose up to 50% of their current populations by 2100. So we don’t yet know the effects.

Narrator (GR):  Is that good or bad? I guess we can visit that topic in Part 2. Thank you for enlightening me. 

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