There are many factors behind the decline in sexual activity among young people
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The comedy film No Sex Please – We’re British was released in 1973 with a largely youthful cast and one too many double entendres. Half a century later, that title seems more apt than ever, at least among the younger members of society. Over the past few decades, sex appears to have been on the decline among teenagers and young adults – but it’s not just happening in Britain.
In the US in 2010, 12 per cent of 18 to 29-year-olds reported not having had sex in the past year, according to the General Social Survey, a long-running sociological survey. In 2024, that figure had doubled.
