Sex in teens
•Fewer than 2% of adolescents have had sex by the time they reach their 12th birthday. But adolescence is a time of rapid change. Only 16% of teens have had sex by age 15, compared with one-third of those aged 16, nearly half (48%) of those aged 17, 61% of 18-year-olds and 71% of 19-year-olds.[1] There is little difference by gender in the timing of first sex.
•On average, young people have sex for the first time at about age 17, [2] but they do not marry until their mid-20s.[3] This means that young adults may be at increased risk for unintended pregnancy and STIs for nearly a decade or longer.
•Teens are waiting longer to have sex than they did in the recent past. In 2006–2008, some 11% of never-married females aged 15–19 and 14% of never-married males in that age-group had had sex before age 15, compared with 19% and 21%, respectively, in 1995.[1]
•In 2006–2010, the most common reason that sexually inexperienced teens gave for not having had sex was that it was “against religion or morals" (38% among females and 31% among males). The second and third most common reasons for females were “don’t want to get pregnant" and “haven’t found the right person yet."[4]
•Among sexually experienced teens, 70% of females and 56% of males report that their first sexual experience was with a steady partner, while 16% of females and 28% of males report first having sex with someone they had just met or who was just a friend.[4]
•Teen sex is increasingly likely to be described as voluntary. In 2006–2010, first sex was described as “unwanted" by 11% of young women aged 18–24 who had had sex before age 20, compared with13% in 2002. For young men in the same age-group, the share reporting first sex as unwanted decreased from 10% to 5%.[4,5]
•Teens in the United States and Europe have similar levels of sexual activity. However, European teens are more likely than U.S. teens to use contraceptives generally and to use the most effective methods; they therefore have substantially
•On average, young people have sex for the first time at about age 17, [2] but they do not marry until their mid-20s.[3] This means that young adults may be at increased risk for unintended pregnancy and STIs for nearly a decade or longer.
•Teens are waiting longer to have sex than they did in the recent past. In 2006–2008, some 11% of never-married females aged 15–19 and 14% of never-married males in that age-group had had sex before age 15, compared with 19% and 21%, respectively, in 1995.[1]
•In 2006–2010, the most common reason that sexually inexperienced teens gave for not having had sex was that it was “against religion or morals" (38% among females and 31% among males). The second and third most common reasons for females were “don’t want to get pregnant" and “haven’t found the right person yet."[4]
•Among sexually experienced teens, 70% of females and 56% of males report that their first sexual experience was with a steady partner, while 16% of females and 28% of males report first having sex with someone they had just met or who was just a friend.[4]
•Teen sex is increasingly likely to be described as voluntary. In 2006–2010, first sex was described as “unwanted" by 11% of young women aged 18–24 who had had sex before age 20, compared with13% in 2002. For young men in the same age-group, the share reporting first sex as unwanted decreased from 10% to 5%.[4,5]
•Teens in the United States and Europe have similar levels of sexual activity. However, European teens are more likely than U.S. teens to use contraceptives generally and to use the most effective methods; they therefore have substantially