A Gender Gap in Sexual Life Expectancy?

A new study of older adults and sex, released in the British Medical Journal, finds that men are more likely than women “to be sexually active, report a good quality sex life, and be interested in sex.” In addition, when it comes to being sexually active, women...don’t live as long.

When calculated from age 30, sexual life expectancy for men is nearly 35 years, while sexual life expectancy for women is closer to 31. Those numbers are fairly close, but there’s a key denominator difference - men, on average, die younger than women, leaving women with a greater percentage of their older years in a sexually inactive state.

But, most interestingly, long-term relationships tend to increase women’s sexual life expectancies.

...the gender gap of sexual activity virtually disappeared in those who were married or living with a partner. And in an endorsement of eating right and getting your exercise, health was strongly associated with sexuality in both midlife and later life (whether good health leads to sexuality or vice versa cannot be parsed from the data).

Thanks to the University of Chicago Medical Center’s blog, which I love, for the hat tip.