How Many Americans Have Sex Before Marriage? What the Data Show
In short
Nearly all. A 2007 study of the National Survey of Family Growth found that by age 44, 95% of Americans had had premarital sex, including 94% of women and 96% of men. Only about 3% of respondents had abstained until marriage. By age 20, 75% had already had premarital sex.
What the full article will cover
- How common is sex before marriage in the US?
- Has premarital sex become more common since the 1950s?
- How many Americans wait until marriage?
- Where do these figures come from?
- How have attitudes changed alongside behavior?
Frequently asked questions
- What percentage of people are virgins when they marry?
- Do religious Americans wait longer?
- Is premarital sex more common than in the past?
Sources
- pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1802108
- news.gallup.com — https://news.gallup.com/poll/1681/moral-issues.aspx
General information, not legal or religious advice.