Reality check: 95 percent of Americans had premarital sex

[Lord Zentei]

Reality check: 95 percent of Americans had premarital sex

POSTED: 6:08 p.m. EST, December 19, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) -- More than nine out of 10 Americans, men and women alike, have had premarital sex, according to a new study. The high rates extend even to women born in the 1940s, challenging perceptions that people were more chaste in the past.

"This is reality-check research," said the study's author, Lawrence Finer. "Premarital sex is normal behavior for the vast majority of Americans, and has been for decades."

Finer is a research director at the Guttmacher Institute, a private New York-based think tank that studies sexual and reproductive issues and which disagrees with government-funded programs that rely primarily on abstinence-only teachings. The study, released Tuesday, appears in the new issue of Public Health Reports.

The study, examining how sexual behavior before marriage has changed over time, was based on interviews conducted with more than 38,000 people -- about 33,000 of them women -- in 1982, 1988, 1995 and 2002 for the federal National Survey of Family Growth. According to Finer's analysis, 99 percent of the respondents had had sex by age 44, and 95 percent had done so before marriage.

Even among a subgroup of those who abstained from sex until at least age 20, four-fifths had had premarital sex by age 44, the study found.

Finer said the likelihood of Americans having sex before marriage has remained stable since the 1950s, though people now wait longer to get married and thus are sexually active as singles for extensive periods.

The study found women virtually as likely as men to engage in premarital sex, even those born decades ago. Among women born between 1950 and 1978, at least 91 percent had had premarital sex by age 30, he said, while among those born in the 1940s, 88 percent had done so by age 44.

"The data clearly show that the majority of older teens and adults have already had sex before marriage, which calls into question the federal government's funding of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs for 12- to 29-year-olds," Finer said.

Under the Bush administration, such programs have received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.

"It would be more effective," Finer said, "to provide young people with the skills and information they need to be safe once they become sexually active -- which nearly everyone eventually will."

Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, defended the abstinence-only approach for teenagers.

"One of its values is to help young people delay the onset of sexual activity," he said. "The longer one delays, the fewer lifetime sex partners they have, and the less the risk of contracting sexually transmitted disease."

He insisted there was no federal mission against premarital sex among adults.

"Absolutely not," Horn said. "The Bush administration does not believe the government should be regulating or stigmatizing the behavior of adults."

Horn said he found the high percentages of premarital sex cited in the study to be plausible, and expressed hope that society would not look askance at the small minority that chooses to remain abstinent before marriage.

However, Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America, a conservative group which strongly supports abstinence-only education, said she was skeptical of the findings.

"Any time I see numbers that high, I'm a little suspicious," she said. "The numbers are too pat."

[wolveraptor]

"One of its values is to help young people delay the onset of sexual activity," he said.

I love how his statement directly contradicts what the data say. Here's a clue, asshole. Abstinence programs don't delay the onset of sexual activity.

"Any time I see numbers that high, I'm a little suspicious," she said. "The numbers are too pat."

She's admitting that she finds the numbers suspicious because they don't agree with her preconcieved notions of premarital sexuality in America. Unbelievable.

[Superman]

God forbid we deal in reality here. For fuck's sake, are all the religious asshole fuckwits actually dumb enough to think some classroom abstinence teaching is going to overpower someone's fucking sex drive? Get a clue, you fairy tale living fucks.

[Wyrm]

God forbid we deal in reality here. For fuck's sake, are all the religious asshole fuckwits actually dumb enough to think some classroom abstinence teaching is going to overpower someone's fucking sex drive? Get a clue, you fairy tale living fucks.

Well, religion's stock-in-trade is fantasy!

[Adrian Laguna]

God forbid we deal in reality here. For fuck's sake, are all the religious asshole fuckwits actually dumb enough to think some classroom abstinence teaching is going to overpower someone's fucking sex drive? Get a clue, you fairy tale living fucks.

No, no, you don't understand. The other five percent are the lucky teenagers who've received abstinence only programs. Clearly we need to expand the program and cram retarded shit down more teenager's throats!

[LauraG]

So... 95% of Americans have had premarital sex and 80% of Americans say they're bible-believing, world-in-six-days, evolution-is-the-devil's-theory Christians. Work the numbers out and it means roughly 75% of Christians are hypocrits. I dunno... sounds a bit low to me.

[Superman]

God forbid we deal in reality here. For fuck's sake, are all the religious asshole fuckwits actually dumb enough to think some classroom abstinence teaching is going to overpower someone's fucking sex drive? Get a clue, you fairy tale living fucks.

No, no, you don't understand. The other five percent are the lucky teenagers who've received abstinence only programs. Clearly we need to expand the program and cram retarded shit down more teenager's throats!

Ohhhhhhh...

I see now! Ah! We must quadruple our abstinence-only program funding at once!

[Sriad]

So... 95% of Americans have had premarital sex and 80% of Americans say they're bible-believing, world-in-six-days, evolution-is-the-devil's-theory Christians. Work the numbers out and it means roughly 75% of Christians are hypocrits. I dunno... sounds a bit low to me.

I don't know about that. It means that one in four people who believe an omnipotent vengeful sky-asshole is waiting for an excuse to torture them forever will change their behavior. Just about right if you ask me.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

"Come on baby, it's democracy in action... Majority rules!"

[LauraG]

So... 95% of Americans have had premarital sex and 80% of Americans say they're bible-believing, world-in-six-days, evolution-is-the-devil's-theory Christians. Work the numbers out and it means roughly 75% of Christians are hypocrits. I dunno... sounds a bit low to me.

I don't know about that. It means that one in four people who believe an omnipotent vengeful sky-asshole is waiting for an excuse to torture them forever will change their behavior. Just about right if you ask me.

Actually, I flipped my numbers wrong-side up in my previous post. If 80% of Americans proclaim themselves Christian and 95% have premarital sex, roughly 100% of the Christians are secretly hoping they're the only ones ignoring their church's teachings in favor of their sex drives. Now that one sounds just about right.

[Spin Echo]

So... 95% of Americans have had premarital sex and 80% of Americans say they're bible-believing, world-in-six-days, evolution-is-the-devil's-theory Christians. Work the numbers out and it means roughly 75% of Christians are hypocrits. I dunno... sounds a bit low to me.

People will find a way to rationalise away their behaviour. Makes me think of a Catholic acquaintance I knew in high school. She used to keep notes of all her sexcapades so she wouldn't forget anything at confession. She seemed to think that so long as she confessed whatever she did, she was in the clear with the big guy in the sky.

[Jim Raynor]

So... 95% of Americans have had premarital sex and 80% of Americans say they're bible-believing, world-in-six-days, evolution-is-the-devil's-theory Christians. Work the numbers out and it means roughly 75% of Christians are hypocrits. I dunno... sounds a bit low to me.

The percentage of fundies in America isn't that high. It's only about half the country.

Still, you're right, these numbers suggest that most fundies are a bunch of fucking hypocrites.

[Adrian Laguna]

People will find a way to rationalise away their behaviour. Makes me think of a Catholic acquaintance I knew in high school. She used to keep notes of all her sexcapades so she wouldn't forget anything at confession. She seemed to think that so long as she confessed whatever she did, she was in the clear with the big guy in the sky.

A major weakness of the Catholic faith. What was originally begging Da Big Man in da Sky for forgiveness by way of his priesthood* has mutated into a relatively painless way to wash away sin. Though this is also largely because of the casual attitude toward their religion that is prevalent among many modern Catholics. Also, considering the benign nature of most sins confessed, it's not a particularly bad thing.

*It was also a way for the priests to keep tabs on what the populace was up to, and thus be more effective at targeting their sermons.

[wolveraptor]

Actually, I flipped my numbers wrong-side up in my previous post. If 80% of Americans proclaim themselves Christian and 95% have premarital sex, roughly 100% of the Christians are secretly hoping they're the only ones ignoring their church's teachings in favor of their sex drives. Now that one sounds just about right.

How do you figure that? The 95% that hasn't had premarital sex doesn't have to completely overlap the 80% of America that proclaims itself Christian. It would be safer to say that a minimum of 75% of all Christians are hypocrites.

Frankly, though, I 'd assume that a good deal of the people who have not had premarital sex are ones who couldn't get it.

[K. A. Pital]

Sex. In America, an obsession. In other parts of the world, a fact.

I may have misquoted her, but it rings true as ever.

[Patrick Degan]

People will find a way to rationalise away their behaviour. Makes me think of a Catholic acquaintance I knew in high school. She used to keep notes of all her sexcapades so she wouldn't forget anything at confession. She seemed to think that so long as she confessed whatever she did, she was in the clear with the big guy in the sky.

A major weakness of the Catholic faith. What was originally begging Da Big Man in da Sky for forgiveness by way of his priesthood* has mutated into a relatively painless way to wash away sin. Though this is also largely because of the casual attitude toward their religion that is prevalent among many modern Catholics. Also, considering the benign nature of most sins confessed, it's not a particularly bad thing.

*It was also a way for the priests to keep tabs on what the populace was up to, and thus be more effective at targeting their sermons.

Hey, when you've got a church which knows it's the One True Faith™, it can afford to be fairly easy-going on personal sin.

[Darth Fanboy]

Fortunately for many hypocrites, forgiveness is supposed to be a core tenet of Chirstianity isn't it? So as long as you're FORGIVEN for your past sins, it is ok to demonize those who sin but weren't forgiven, or weren't forgiven as much.

[Solauren]

So... 95% of Americans have had premarital sex and 80% of Americans say they're bible-believing, world-in-six-days, evolution-is-the-devil's-theory Christians. Work the numbers out and it means roughly 75% of Christians are hypocrits. I dunno... sounds a bit low to me.

ACtually, it means 95% of Christians in the States are Hypocrites, and roughly 76% of Americans are Christian-Hypocrites

[Lagmonster]

As an aside, for people who are well educated from a young age, it's shocking at first to go out into the world and see people surprised that other people have sex.

In my lifetime, I have watched someone exclaim, "SHE is sexually active? But she seemed so NICE!". Bizarre.

[Turin]

Makes me think of a Catholic acquaintance I knew in high school. She used to keep notes of all her sexcapades so she wouldn't forget anything at confession. She seemed to think that so long as she confessed whatever she did, she was in the clear with the big guy in the sky.

There's a book deal waiting for her somewhere, I'm sure.

Even among a subgroup of those who abstained from sex until at least age 20, four-fifths had had premarital sex by age 44, the study found.

This is particularly telling. Even kids brainwashed with the abstinence only crap eventually, even if only as adults, decide they can have sex before marriage. Unfortunately, this also means that they're now adults with a myriad of sexual hangups because they think what they're doing is sinful. Great.

[LauraG]

So... 95% of Americans have had premarital sex and 80% of Americans say they're bible-believing, world-in-six-days, evolution-is-the-devil's-theory Christians. Work the numbers out and it means roughly 75% of Christians are hypocrits. I dunno... sounds a bit low to me.

ACtually, it means 95% of Christians in the States are Hypocrites, and roughly 76% of Americans are Christian-Hypocrites

Thanks.

[LauraG]

Actually, I flipped my numbers wrong-side up in my previous post. If 80% of Americans proclaim themselves Christian and 95% have premarital sex, roughly 100% of the Christians are secretly hoping they're the only ones ignoring their church's teachings in favor of their sex drives. Now that one sounds just about right.

How do you figure that? The 95% that hasn't had premarital sex doesn't have to completely overlap the 80% of America that proclaims itself Christian. It would be safer to say that a minimum of 75% of all Christians are hypocrites.

Frankly, though, I 'd assume that a good deal of the people who have not had premarital sex are ones who couldn't get it.

There doesn't have to be an overlap, but when it comes to hypocrisy, you've got to factor in the track record. That will swing the figures over to the nearly 100% figure.

[Darth Wong]

I love the way people think that nobody had premarital sex in the old days. Have they ever done any research into the "flappers" in the 1920s? How about drive-in movies and oversized back seats in the 1950s?

It's amazing how many levels of denial the conservatives tend to submerge themselves in. Even in the medieval period, there was plenty of bawdy and raunchy behaviour, and everyone knew it. It was really only the aristocratic upper class which jealously guarded the chastity of its young women, and that was mostly because they married off their young women in arranged matchups order to make social and political connections, so they needed an unspoiled product for the customer.

[Surlethe]

It's amazing how many levels of denial the conservatives tend to submerge themselves in. Even in the medieval period, there was plenty of bawdy and raunchy behaviour, and everyone knew it.

Reading The Canterbury Tales is kind of an eye-opener: no, it is not abnormal to be obsessed with sex, because people have been that way since at least 1350, and even earlier. When you're raised in a household where sex is taboo, in a culture where thinking about sex is nominally off-limits, it's strange viscerally (although intellectually) to realize just how normal sex is.

[Azazal]

I love the way people think that nobody had premarital sex in the old days. Have they ever done any research into the "flappers" in the 1920s? How about drive-in movies and oversized back seats in the 1950s?

OK I'll admit a minor fetish, vintage porn. It's pretty funny to hear people talk about the good days, knowing that porn pics have been around since the camera was invented.

Flashback time. To Mike's point, some comic strip had a father and son looking at a 57 Chevy at a car show, the father was talking to himself about the history of the car and what would it say about its life. The son then pipes in about how large the back seat is and what a great car it must be to ride around in. The father's responce to the car, don;t say a word.

To the OP, I can not recall the comedian that said it, or the exact line but it was something like this, "Pre-marital sex is the greatest thing in the world, after all do you really want to find out on your wedding night that the only thing that gets your partner off is you only wearing a grass hula skirt, squating over a candle, singing the star spangled banner?"