Equality improves sex lives -- for both genders

Around the world, middle-aged and elderly men tend to be more satisfied with their sex lives than women in the same age group, a survey released Wednesday said.

The survey, of 27,500 people aged 40 to 80 in 29 countries, found that a greater proportion of people in Europe, North America and Australia enjoyed sex physically and emotionally than in countries with less gender equality. It also found a gender gap. “Men are on the average substantially ... higher in their levels of satisfaction as women in [a given] country,” said lead researcher Edward Laumann of the University of Chicago.

In the United States, about three-quarters of men and two-thirds of women reported they were very satisfied with the physical and emotional aspects of their sex lives. The study was published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.