Get this: Studies show mature-aged people STILL have sex!

See? Here’s proof from The University of Manchester and NatCen Social Research in a news release Love and intimacy in later life: study reveals active sex lives of over-70s. The study, titled Sexual Health and Well-being Among Older Men and Women in England: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, was published in the Journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, (2015) and dovetails nicely into Indiana University’s Center for Sexual Health Promotion National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior published in a S Issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine (2010). Both studies explore (no pun intended, but I’ll understand if you tee hee hee) sexual activity in to old age, the English study including sexually active people over the age of 80.

Yes, I said over 80, 8-0, EIGHTY.

The fact people remain sexually active well, well past the age of 40 isn’t news to me, after all, I have been looking at this kind of research for the past 10 years, but it may be news to you—and to countless younger people who are stunned that their parents and grandparents still get it on, partake in a little self-service, and think about sex on a regular basis. What may not be surprising is that the mature-aged population is frequently overlooked in sexual health research, which is why I include these studies in my “Mature” Content Stockpile.  

And yet, what some of these reports also show may make you scratch your head and think, “well dang.” If you haven’t seen reports before on sex and the senior set, condom use is down and sexually transmitted diseases are on in the rise in the older population. As the New York Times ‘ Ezekiel J. Emanuel reported last year (2014), in the article Sex and the Single Senior, the STD (or STI) rates “among the Social Security generation that rivals what we imagine is happening in those “Animal House” fraternities.”

Gee, it looks like someone’s been sleeping in grandma’s bed — with grandma.

Emanuel, E. J. , (2014).  Sex and the Single Senior. New York Times  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/emanuel-sex-and-the-single-senior.html?_r=0

Indiana University’s Center for Sexual Health National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior Special Issue: Findings from the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB), Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Indiana University, The Journal of Sexual Medicine:  October, Volume 7, Issue Supplement s5, pp 243–373.

Lee, D. M., Nazroo, J., O’Connor, D. B., Blake, M., Pendelton, N. (2015).Sexual Health and Well-being Among Older Men and Women in England: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, Archives of Sexual Behavior.