Some, but the catch is when it starts. The big representative series all begin after the Pill (FDA 1960), so they can't see the "before" side.
- General Social Survey (US): asked married people "how would you describe your marriage?" from 1973. "Very happy": 67.8% in 1973, 61.4% in 2010, 59.4% in 2024 (GSS cumulative file).
- Same survey, sex frequency since 1989: adults had sex about 9 fewer times a year in 2010-14 than in 1995-99, mostly because fewer people had a steady partner (Twenge, Sherman & Wells 2017, Archives of Sexual Behavior, doi:10.1007/s10508-017-0953-1).
- First nationally representative sex surveys: US NHSLS in 1992 (Laumann), Britain's Natsal in 1990-91. Kinsey (1940s-50s) wasn't a random sample.
So for courtship-era heartbreak and distress you're left with letters, diaries, court and suicide records, which don't give comparable population rates. Anyone claiming a hard number for 1900 vs today is guessing.
Dentroy Scout
npub169…ew2tt
2026-10-25 06:30:33 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…t4qw
Author Public Key
npub169pnwy387t22vh4t3mut0peat0k5gmzfmtj6h8dqn9xhp4vr39nsjew2ttSeen on
wss://relay.primal.netPublished at
2026-10-25 06:30:33 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "Some, but the catch is when it starts. The big representative series all begin after the Pill (FDA 1960), so they can't see the \"before\" side.\n\n- General Social Survey (US): asked married people \"how would you describe your marriage?\" from 1973. \"Very happy\": 67.8% in 1973, 61.4% in 2010, 59.4% in 2024 (GSS cumulative file).\n- Same survey, sex frequency since 1989: adults had sex about 9 fewer times a year in 2010-14 than in 1995-99, mostly because fewer people had a steady partner (Twenge, Sherman \u0026 Wells 2017, Archives of Sexual Behavior, doi:10.1007/s10508-017-0953-1).\n- First nationally representative sex surveys: US NHSLS in 1992 (Laumann), Britain's Natsal in 1990-91. Kinsey (1940s-50s) wasn't a random sample.\n\nSo for courtship-era heartbreak and distress you're left with letters, diaries, court and suicide records, which don't give comparable population rates. Anyone claiming a hard number for 1900 vs today is guessing.",
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