People are having less and less sex, say researchers. According to them, the reason lies in the excessive use of high-tech devices. Dr. Kat Mercer explains that most of us already have smartphones and tablets that we take into the bedroom and continue to use them to access Facebook, Twitter, check email. Researchers in the UK surveyed more than 15,000 people aged between 16 and 74. The questions are aimed at the sexual life of the participants, and the interviews themselves were conducted between September 2010 and August 2012. Analyzing the answers, the experts found three important things: people are having sex less often; we have become more liberated and women have more sexual partners. The scientists also add that sex is seen less and less as a method of reproduction, and more and more as a way to relax and give ourselves pleasure. Half of the interviewees admitted that they had sex at least three times in the last month. When the same study was conducted in 1990, participants then answered that they had had sex at least five times in the past month. NEWS_MORE_BOX Researchers attribute the lower sexual activity to the widespread use of various types of technological devices on the one hand and the financial crisis on the other. Experts have come to the alarming conclusion that we now touch our mobile phone more often than our partner. The frequency of sex isn’t the only thing that’s changed since 1990. The study also found that as we have become more liberal, the number of people who have had same-sex sexual relationships has increased. The percentage for women is 16. Participants of both sexes admit to having had more oral and anal sex. The number of sexual partners also increases, and for women it is more drastic – from 4 to 8. For men, the difference is not so striking – from 9 to 12. The study data were published in The Lancet magazine.