We know, we know — the sex your parents had when they were your age is probably low on the list of things you'd like to imagine. But, hear us out, because a new study of some 33,000 people (published this week in the Archives of Sexual Behavior and shared online by TIME) sheds light on some fascinating differences between Millennial and Boomer sex. It might come as a surprise that Millennials are actually having sex with fewer partners than their parents did. Those born in the '50s and '60s had an average of 11 sex partners as adults, while those born in the '70s had an average of 10. Now in their adulthood, '80s and '90s babies — Millennials — are averaging eight sex partners each. (Grandma and Grandpa, at least if they were born around 1924, had only two partners apiece on average.)
Interestingly, this decline in number of sex partners accompanies a jump in acceptance of premarital sex. In 2004, 44% of respondents analyzed in this study reported that they saw nothing wrong with premarital sex; by 2014, that figure had increased to 58%. Acceptance of homosexuality has risen steadily over recent decades as well. Only 11% of respondents saw no problem with homosexuality in 1973, but by 2012, 44% of respondents saw no problem with it. Tolerance for a range of sexual choices and orientations is expanding even as Millennials sleep with fewer partners, a phenomenon TIME notes may have to do with heightened knowledge of the risks of STIs. Click through for more insight on how our sexual mores and habits are changing. (TIME)
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