Many Americans are having sex more frequently under lockdown

Jamie BallardData Journalist
March 31, 2020, 4:45 PM GMT+0

As many couples hunker down at home, they may find themselves with more time on their hands, and, well, there are only so many TV shows to binge before you might want to start engaging in other home-based activities.

In a YouGov poll of more than 24,000 US adults, one in eight (13%) say they have been having sex with their partner more frequently in recent weeks.

But of course, many Americans aren’t quarantining with a partner. For those who live separately from their partner, or who don’t have a singular partner, there may be alternative ways to maintain an active sex life - even during a pandemic.

One in twenty (5%) Americans says that they’ve sent an explicit text message recently. Slightly fewer say they’ve had phone sex (3%), had sex over video chat (3%), or sent naked pictures to someone (3%).

Americans in their 20s and 30s seem especially likely to get busy during quarantine - whether in person or virtually.

Nearly one-quarter of 25-to 34-year-olds (23%) say they’ve been having sex with their partner more frequently over the last two weeks. Among this age group, one in 11 (9%) has sent an explicit text message, while 6 percent had phone sex, had sex over video chat, and/or sent naked pictures within the last two weeks.

As swaths of the country enforce social distancing measures, some Americans may have to continue getting creative when it comes to sex. But they may be ready to embrace unusual or futuristic approaches to sex: Another recent poll from YouGov finds that more than one in five Americans (22%) say they would consider having sex with a robot.

See full results from this poll and sign up for the YouGov Daily newsletter.

Related: In 2020, both men and women are more likely to consider having sex with a robot

Image: The Gender Spectrum Collection

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