Relative contribution of male and female age to the frequency of marital intercourse

Using three recent samples of American married couples of childbearing age, we examined the relative contribution of male and female age to the decline in the frequency of marital intercourse with age. Contrary to the widely held belief that only male age contributes to the decline, we found a substantial contribution of female age. In the 1965 sample, the contribution of each sex was about the same. In the 1974 sample, the contribution of female age was much more important than the contribution of male age. Two alternative explanations are offered.