Older People Have More Extramarital Sex: Study

NEW YORK, NY — Despite what many fear about the sexual and moral practices of the population, the overall rate of extramarital affairs has remained relatively constant over recent decades, according to a new study from the University of Utah. This seeming consistency, however, masks a finding about the behavior of young couples compared to older couples — but again, it's probably not what you'd expect.

While the rate of younger married people having sex with someone other than their spouses has fallen, older couples have seen a rise in infidelity. (For more national stories, subscribe to the Across America Patch and receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

About 14 percent of married Americans aged 55 and younger say they've had extramarital sex. For those older than 55, that rate jumps to 20 percent. These results were published in the Institute of Family Studies, a right-leaning research group.

According to Professor Nicholas H. Wolfinger of the university's Department of Family and Consumer Studies, who led the research, the results may show the effects of the the aging generation raised during the sexual revolution. However, because the survey only asked whether individuals had sex outside of their marriage, it's not clear to what extent the older cohort's proclivity for affairs represent "cheating" or some other trend of consensual nonmonogamy among these couples.

In Wolfinger's view, however, the increase cannot solely be attributed to polyamory, in which spouses give each other permission to have sex outside of the relationship.

"No matter how many polyamorists there are today, old-fashioned adultery seems to have risen among older Americans," he said.

"Even as overall divorce rates have fallen in recent decades, there has been a startling surge in 'grey divorce' among the middle-aged," he said. "Part of that story seems to be a corresponding increase in midlife adultery, which seems to be both the cause and the consequence of a failing marriage."

The relevant question, taken from the General Sociological Survey, was this: “Have you ever had sex with someone other than your husband or wife while you were married?”

The way the question is asked, it may seem no surprise that older people would more frequently respond in the affirmative. Since they've been married longer, they've presumably had more time and opportunities to have extramarital affairs. However, the study found that in the 1990s, older people were much less likely to say that they had had sex outside their marriages, suggesting that the study is revealing true generational differences.

Meanwhile, the the rate of younger people saying they've had affairs has fallen from around 18 percent in the early 2000s to about 14 percent on 2017.

"The declining rates of extramarital sex among younger Americans seemingly portends a future of monogamous marriage," Wolfinger said. "But the seeds sown by the sexual revolution continue to bear unanticipated fruit among older Americans."

Read the full report.

Photo credit: Phil Roeder