Once-a-decade study: Money woes and social media is putting people 'off sex'

More and more people are now having sex less frequently because of money worries and the distractions of social media.

13:24 26 November 2013

A once-a-decade poll that was participated by 15,000 Britons aged between 16-44 reveals that more and more people these days are having sex fewer than five times a month.

The author of the study speculated that the reason for this is due to financial concerns and the distractions of social media.

Dr Cath Mercer, from University College London, said: "People are worried about their jobs, worried about money. They are not in the mood for sex.

"But we also think modern technologies are behind the trend too. People have tablets and smartphones and they are taking them into the bedroom, using Twitter and Facebook, answering emails."

Talking about the result of the study, Genevieve Edwards, from Marie Stopes International, said: "A key insight from the survey is that people are having sex earlier and having children later, which means that, on average, women in Britain spend about 30 years of their life needing to avert an unplanned pregnancy, yet many are not being informed about or offered the full range of services.

"Long-acting contraceptives, for example, can be extremely effective and convenient but too many are never offered the choice."