NAUGHTY FORTIES?
“I believe in sex on a first date. Otherwise how do you know if a second date is worth the effort?”
So said our cheeky Jacki Weaver in her 2005 memoir Much Love, Jac, which chronicled her acting career, her approach to life, her four marriages, and three de facto relationships.
Now it seems Jacki, 65, might not have been speaking only for herself. According to the latest data released in the RSVP Date of the Nation 2012 Report*, Australians over 51 are the most likely to have sex on the first date.
The report says: “Although two to four dates is the average number of meetings before getting into bed, Australians aged over 51 years are the most likely age group to have sex on the first date.”
Twenty one percent of over 51 singles would have sex on the first date, compared to only 14 percent of Gen X (age 31-50), and 14 percent of Gen Y (18-30).
On a more serious note, the report also showed that single people over 51 years are more likely to have had unprotected sex in a one night stand at some stage in their life (61 percent) compared to 49 percent of Gen X and 42 percent of Gen Y.
This detail is at the core of a new Family Planning NSW campaign targeting STIs in over 40s. According to Dr Deborah Bateson, Medical Director of Family Planning NSW, since 2005 the number of new Chlamydia cases in people aged 40 and above has doubled.
This may be, she said, due to the greater numbers of Australians meeting new sexual partners later in life, and that there had been an absence of safe sex campaigns in this age group.
“People may feel somewhat “invincible” at this later stage of life or, in the case of women who have gone through menopause, they don’t have the added incentive of using condoms to prevent an unintended pregnancy.”
*The RSVP Date of the Nation report is an annual study into the behaviours and attitudes of Australians when it comes to dating, sex, and relationships. It surveys over 3200 respondents.
Do you find these statistics surprising? What’s your experience?
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8 Responses to this article
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The Huntress September 26, 2012
No, not surprising at all. It really does highlight, however, the need for accessable information on sexual health for people aged 40 and up. While their greater sexual confidence is wonderful, a timely reminder is required that STI’s and HIV are still out there and one should protect themselves.
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Liz September 26, 2012
Maybe it’s a case of taking it when you can get it in that age group! Probably don’t even think about protection.
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Cake and eat it September 26, 2012
This the same group who believed in free-love in the 70s, so hardly surprising. The ones I have met in this age group who are on RSVP are desperate for sex!
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Ruth October 5, 2012
Cake and eat it: Dunno where you learned to count, but I’m in my mid 40s and was born in the late 60s. So no such thing as free love for me in the 70s. I didn’t lose my virginity until 1986!
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Ro. Watson September 27, 2012
..”the way we have sex in our forties and fifties”…??..or the fact that we have sex….bring on the Bond’s cottontails~~ but yes,maybe the way I would have sex now,is different from my younger days~far more discerning…
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Aeron Winters September 27, 2012
It’s scary that those who should know better don’t use protection to prevent an STI. As for having sex in our forties and fifties…why wouldn’t we? We’re meant to be sexual beings after all. I enjoy sex much more now than I ever did in my twenties or even early thirties…probably because I’m comfortable with my body now.
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Ro. Watson September 27, 2012
Lucky you Aeron..
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Kerry October 4, 2012
Thank goodness we are starting to dicuss age groups other than the young
Considering the adults over 40 will continue to grow and keep on growing, and they will have money to spend it would be a great idea to tap into this market.
So good luck to those whose choose to live their life as well as they can sexually,emotionally,physically ect we just need to be aware as there are still lots of narsty people out there.
