A new study by KYN featuring 1,663 respondents has found that, despite common misconceptions, people aged 70 and over actually have more fulfilling sex lives and find dating easier than their middle-aged counterparts.
According to the data, 45% of middle-aged people cite a lack of opportunities for sex and romance and 51% state that they have low-confidence when it comes to dating.
While we consider dating and sex to typically be a young person’s game, a third of over 70s involved in the study said that their desire and libido hasn’t gone away and nearly half are more confident about what they want from a relationship than when they were younger.
In fact, six per cent even said their libido is greater now than it was 10 years ago.
This is all in stark contrast to the 12% younger people surveyed who believed that sex among older people was taboo.
Sometimes age really is just a number
If this all feels like brand new information to you, it may be because of poor media portrayals of sex in older ages. While shows like Grace and Frankie have helped to tackle some of this stigma, 37% of respondents over 70 said that they didn’t feel represented in the media.
Additionally, 71% agreed that if society was more willing to discuss sex and intimacy around ageing, barriers could be broken down to make old people feel less ignored.
This correlates with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) claim that ageism is a global issue. According to WHO: “Every second person in the world is believed to hold ageist attitudes – leading to poorer physical and mental health and reduced quality of life for older persons.”
While we do hold these ageist attitudes and even see the sex lives of older adults as ‘taboo’, we’re potentially missing out on making real connections and shunning an entire group of people based purely on their age.
Caroline Naidoo, Managing Director of KYN said: “Growing older doesn’t mean you lose your identity, and as a society we have a responsibility to see people of all ages as individuals, who have urges and want to live their lives to the fullest. We aim to challenge the stereotypes surrounding sex, relationships and intimacy to help older people feel more comfortable in themselves – and for younger people to accept them in this way.”