Poll finds recession has hit sex lives of adult Americans

The global economic crisis is taking its toll on older Americans' sex lives, according to an AARP survey.

Between 2004 and 2009, the percentage of people in their 50s who said they had sex at least once a week took about a 10-point plunge for both sexes.

Women dropped to 32% from 43%, and men to 41% from 49%, in the sex survey of 1,670 Americans aged 45 and older.

"Financial worries tend to seep into all parts of a couple's life together," said Dr Pepper Schwartz, a sexologist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

"It's hard for some people to feel warm and sexy when they are afraid of losing their home or they have already lost their job. People complain of feeling distant, disconnected, and emotionally bound up," she said.

Most other age groups saw a drop in their frequency of sex, too, according to AARP, a non-profit membership organisation for people 50 years and older.

Among all the survey respondents, 21% of men and 11% of women admitted that they cheated during a current or recent long-term relationship.

About 12% of both sexes said that their partner had cheated on them.

Surprisingly, however, few people said the cheating did irreparable harm to their relationship. About 40% reported that unfaithfulness had no effect at all, about 30% thought it only caused temporary tension, and 6% or less said it did irreparable harm.