According to findings from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, the age at which the French are having sex for the first time is in retreat.
The median age of first sexual intercourse, defined as the age at which half the population lost their virginity, was 17.3 in 2010. The latest study, of 31,518 people, found that as of 2023, the median age at which women first had sex was 18.2, while for men it was 17.7.
The trend appears to be a reversal of the increasingly laissez-faire approach of French society in the second half of the last century.
The age at which women first had sex decreased by almost three years between the early 1960s and the mid-2000s (20.1 years compared with 17.3 years) and by a year and a half for men (18.8 years compared with 17.3 years).
This story is from the November 16, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the November 16, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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