Too Stressed for Sex? Low Sex Marriages in Singapore

Abstract

This paper investigates the associations between stress and fatigue arising from hectic lifestyles and marital coital activity in Singapore, where the fertility rate is among the lowest in the world. Using data on 657 married women’s self-reported daily coital activity collected through online diaries over 14 weeks (n = 54,600), I estimate that marital sexual frequency is 3.69 and 2.55 per 30 days on average among women aged 25-29 and 30-34 respectively, well below ideal frequencies of 6.40 and 5.23. Results from two-way logistic models show that there is a strong positive weekend effect and a positive but weaker public holiday effect, with very low probabilities of sex during the workweek among older married women. Stress has a significant inhibition effect through the week among older women, and has a stronger effect on couples who are likely to want more children. On the other hand, fatigue reduces probability of sex mainly during the workweek, and has a stronger effect on couples who have already achieved their ideal family size. The results suggest that the incompatibility between demanding work-life environments and healthy marital sex lives contributes to the decline in coital frequency with age and helps to explain the very low fertility rate in Singapore.