One in eight millennials aren't having sex until they are 26

Millennials are waiting longer than their parents to have sex, with one in eight people remaining a virgin until the age of 26, new research has revealed.

While they lead the way in everything from selfies to social media, when it comes to becoming sexually active, generation 18-34 are keen to do things a little differently to the generations before them.

Researchers on the Next Steps project, which was set up by the Department for Education and managed by University College London, studied 16K people born between 1989 and 1990 since they were aged 14.

They found that around 12.5% are still virgins at 26.

The interviews were carried out in 2016 and if those who refused to answer the question were also virgins, the figure rises to one in six.

In previous generations, around one in 20 people were still virgins at the age of 26.

The reason for the delay, analysts speculate, could be down to an overexposure to pornography and a “fear of intimacy.”

“Millennials have been brought up in a culture of hypersexuality which has bred a fear of intimacy,” said psychotherapist Susanna Abse told The Sunday Times.

“The women are always up for it with beautiful hard bodies and the men have permanent erections. That is daunting to young people,” she explained.

In addition to the 12.5 per cent who had never had sex, the study also revealed that more than 90 per cent of those who had lost their virginities had done so by the age of 19.

And just one per cent of participants lost their virginities aged 23-26.

The new findings echo a US study, which found just 44 per cent of teenage girls had lost their virginity – compared to 58 per cent 25 years before.

The research follows other analysis, which revealed that more than a third of 5,000 women aged between 16 and 74 lost interest in sex for three months or more last year.

And almost two thirds of female participants admitted that they find their lack of libido worrying.

But the lack of interest in sex isn’t exclusive to woman, as one in five men also experience low libido at some point in their sex lives.

While sex may be off the menu for some, there is a certain age group for whom it is becoming increasingly important.

A recent study has found that contrary to common belief, sex is a big part of life for women and men aged 65 and above.

According to a US survey, two fifths (40%) of people aged 65 to 80 report being sexually active, while half of those surveyed who have a partner said they still very much get it on.

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