From Maggie Gallagher at Real Clear Politics. (H/T Ruth Blog)
Excerpt:
Shocking news: Virginity is on the rise in America.
The source is sober, academic, practically irrefutable: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Its latest analysis of the sex lives of Americans age 15 to 44 includes a startling finding: Virginity is increasing among teens and young adults in the U.S.
Compared with data from the 2002 (National Survey of Family Growth), a higher percentage of males and females 15-24 in 2006-2008 have had no sexual contact with another person. In 2002, 22 percent of young men and women 15-24 had never had any sexual contact with another person, and in 2006-2008, those figures were 27 percent for males and 29 percent for females.
The survey was was drawn from in-person interviews with a national sample of 13,495 males and females. The data were collected using audio computer-assisted self-interviewing, or ACASI, in which the respondent enters his or her own answers into the computer — known to be the most accurate way of collecting sensitive data.
The response rate for the 2006-2008 NSFG was 75 percent — very high for this kind of data.
The increase in virginity is not just “technical virginity,” mind you. These are young adults who say they have had no sexual contact of any kind: no intercourse, no oral sex, no anal sex. (Presumably, a lot of them have, however, kissed and hugged!)
I’m an old hand at stats. But even I was surprised by this finding buried in the report (Table 3): 32 percent of currently married women under the age of 45 say they have had only one sex partner in their life.
Slightly more than 50 million Americans are married. If the figures for those under 45 mirror the national figures (a conservative assumption), that means the number of women who have never had sex with anyone but their husbands is at least 8 million.
I’m one of the virgins who doesn’t kiss, although I might hug, if the person could pass all of my grueling tests and requirements.
Related posts
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- Where have all the good men gone, and why aren’t men marrying?
- Do men have a responsibility not to marry feminists?
- What does the common practice of withholding sex reveal about women?
- Why are so many British feminists converting to Islam?
- Why do some women tolerate jerks as boyfriends?
- Why do women flock to movies like Switch and Eat, Pray, Love?
- Women should read “The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands”
- Arlemagne’s post on the dangers of sentimentality in relationships
- Is Mark Driscoll afraid to hold a woman accountable for her own choices?
- 12-year-old girl (and her mother) sues father for grounding her… and wins!
- The Wintery Knight’s greatest fears about the future
- How feminism made women unsuitable for marriage and parenting
- Does being a virgin before marriage affect marital stability?
- How to communicate requirements to a Christian woman during courtship
- How feminism made women unsuitable for marriage and parenting
- Why men should refuse a woman’s offer of casual sex
- How Christian women can make Christian men marry without using sex appeal
- John Piper’s questions to ask before you get married
- Does a man’s decision to marry negatively impact his service to God?
- The rules for friendship and courtship between Christians
- What Christian men want from Christian women… in paintings!
- Why Christian men should be chaste
- Should Christians marry non-Christians?
WINTERY KNIGHT 
That’s encouraging! My only worry is that increased virginity is caused by men using pornography as a sexual outlet.
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WK, would you please also share some stats on men so we can see whether or not they are curbing their sexual experiences. It presents a skewed picture to only comment on one sex.
PS: I concur with Matt’s concern above. Also with teenagers and honesty. But that’s hard to weed out.
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Oh my goodness. I thought it was men and women who were doing this.
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