New IFS analysis breaks down the relational, ideological and religious divides within America's “sex recession”

Building on research showing married religious couples have better sex lives than secular counterparts, IFS looked for ideological divides beneath the surface.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, UNITED STATES, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The answer is a tentative “yes,” Brad Wilcox and Maria Baer conclude. Data from the General Social Survey and the 2022 “State of Our Unions” survey show that conservative wives have more sex than liberal wives these days – and the gap has emerged only recently. There is also a gap for conservative and liberal husbands, but it is not statistically significant.

Over the past few decades, religious faith and conservative viewpoints have become more intertwined. The gap between conservatives and liberals when it comes to sex can largely be explained by conservatives being more religious.

“Americans are having less sex than they used to, and the data suggest that this ‘sex recession’ has been especially pronounced among liberal women,” Baer said.

Wilcox and Baer argue that lifestyle differences between conservatives and liberals might also play a role in these findings. Research suggests liberals spend more time online and alone than conservatives. In addition, liberals are more likely to view pornography and to consider it morally acceptable – a major threat to sexual intimacy and fidelity within marriage.

“This pattern may be downstream of the digital revolution,” Wilcox said.

“Online life may be fueling skepticism about men and marriage on the left while also crowding out time for the kind of real-world connections that are good for marriage.”

This analysis first appeared in Deseret News and was republished at the Institute for Family Studies.

About the authors

Dr. Brad Wilcox is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Get Married Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies. He is also a Professor of Sociology and Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Maria Baer is a Contributing Writer at the Institute for Family Studies and co-host of the Breakpoint this Week podcast.

About IFS

The Institute for Family Studies is a non-partisan research organization dedicated to strengthening marriage and family life through evidence-based research and public education.

James Lynch
Institute for Family Studies
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