Generation Z is having less sex. Experts at NC State say several social factors, including COVID-19 and societal expectations, might be contributing to decreased sexual activity and relationships within Gen Z. 

Kami Kosenko, an associate professor of communication, studies and researches sexual communication. She said each generation is reporting less sexual activity, but there can be inaccuracies when trying to measure how much sex people have. 

“There is this tendency for penis owners to say that they’ve had more sex than they actually have and for vagina owners to say that they’ve had less sex than they’ve had,” Kosenko said. “The other issue is that we don’t have a universal definition of sex.”

Laura Widman, an associate professor of psychology, researches adolescent sexual decision-making. She said the frequency of sexual activity has gone down over time, with one reason being that younger people are less likely to be in long-term, committed relationships. 

“They are less likely to have a steady partner, and having that availability of a steady partner is one thing that increases sexual frequency,” Widman said. 

Widman said science has no clear answer as to why young people today are less likely to be in a committed relationship, but she gets the impression from her students that this generation has higher standards and an unwillingness to settle.

Additionally, Widman said there has been a general “delay to launch” for members of Gen Z. 

“They tend to get their driver’s license later than past generations did and tend to live at home a little bit longer,” Widman said. “This life delay has been happening now for decades.”

Widman said COVID-19 exacerbated this trend. 

“It’s hard to go out and meet partners and get jobs and keep moving along with life when you had two years of COVID,” Widman said. 

Kosenko said COVID-19 hit during an important developmental period for Gen Z. 

“Gen Z would have been going through some of their primary developmental stages regarding sexual initiation,” Kosenko said. “The average age of virginity loss is 17, and with COVID hitting during that time, individuals were not able to go through the typical developmental milestones on time.”

Kosenko said the overturning of Roe v. Wade also led to a decrease of sex in all age groups. 

“The fear of unplanned pregnancy and not having a choice as to how to deal with that seems to be impacting all age groups in terms of their sexual frequency and interactions,” Kosenko said. 

Widman said society’s assumptions play a major role when talking about sex and Gen Z. 

“We have this cultural narrative that college students are having a lot of casual sex,” Widman said. “And I think a lot of students think everybody’s doing that, but that’s not actually true. Some people are doing that.”

Widman said one should be careful when comparing large groups, such as different generations.

“On average, Gen Zers might be having less sex, but that doesn’t tell us very much about any one Gen Z person,” Widman said.