Table 3.
Sociodemographic and sexual behaviour/attitudinal characteristics of British women by sexual (in)activity type (numbers are shown in per cent)
| Sexually active | Sexually inactive | |||
| Sexually inexperienced | In a relationship | Single | ||
| Age group | ||||
| 16–24 years | 15.8 | 82.7 | [[0.6]] | [3.8] |
| 25–34 years | 21.8 | [10.2] | [[1.8]] | 7.1 |
| 35–44 years | 22.5 | [[0.9]] | [[4.1]] | 10.9 |
| 45–54 years | 20.5 | [[1.3]] | [12.8] | 17.7 |
| 55–64 years | 12.9 | [[3.0]] | 38.6 | 28.5 |
| 65–74 years | 6.5 | [[2.0]] | 42.1 | 32.1 |
| Religion | ||||
| None | 45.7 | 35.5 | 33.9 | 36.5 |
| Christian | 48.5 | 36.9 | 62.2 | 58.2 |
| Other religion | 5.8 | 27.6 | [[3.9]] | [5.4] |
| Ethnicity | ||||
| White British/White | 89.0 | 61.7 | 94.9 | 87.8 |
| Other | 11.0 | 38.3 | [[5.1]] | 12.2 |
| Education* | ||||
| No academic qualification | 16.8 | [[5.8]] | 40.6 | 35.8 |
| Academic qualifications typically gained at age 16 y | 36.2 | [[8.1]] | 28.9 | 34.5 |
| Studying for/attained further academic qualification | 47.0 | 86.0 | 30.5 | 29.6 |
| National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification | ||||
| Managerial & professional occupations | 33.5 | [7.9] | 23.8 | 23.7 |
| Intermediate occupations | 20.8 | [[4.0]] | 17.7 | 18.1 |
| Semiroutine/routine occupations | 27.2 | [10.0] | 22.0 | 28.0 |
| Never worked and long-term unemployed | 11.3 | [10.0] | 36.0 | 27.6 |
| Student in full-time education | 7.3 | 68.1 | [[0.5]] | [2.6] |
| Quintile of Index of Multiple Deprivation | ||||
| 1 (least deprived) | 20.9 | 15.3 | 23.9 | 13.7 |
| 2 | 20.7 | 13.2 | 24.1 | 18.4 |
| 3 | 19.7 | 24.5 | 18.2 | 20.0 |
| 4 | 19.9 | 24.2 | 16.5 | 24.0 |
| 5 (most deprived) | 18.7 | 22.8 | 17.4 | 23.9 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | ||||
| <25 (underweight or normal weight) | 54.0 | 74.1 | 35.1 | 39.5 |
| 25 to <30 (overweight) | 28.0 | [13.8] | 35.7 | 30.0 |
| 30 or higher (obese) | 18.1 | [12.1] | 29.1 | 30.5 |
| Height | ||||
| Below average (<164 cm) | 51.3 | 56.7 | 63.9 | 62.4 |
| Average or above (≥164 cm) | 48.8 | 43.3 | 36.1 | 37.6 |
| Have felt sexual attraction | ||||
| Yes | 99.8 | 89.0 | 99.7 | 98.8 |
| No | [[0.2]] | [11.0] | [[0.3]] | [[1.2]] |
| Sexual identity | ||||
| Heterosexual | 97.3 | 96.7 | 96.8 | 97.8 |
| Other | 2.7 | [[3.3]] | [[3.2]] | [2.2] |
| Masturbated in past 7 days | ||||
| No | 82.0 | 90.2 | 94.8 | 90.2 |
| Yes | 18.0 | [[9.8]] | [[5.2]] | 9.8 |
| Lifetime sexual partners | ||||
| 0 | 0 | 100 | 0.2 | 0 |
| 1 | 20.7 | 0 | 41.8 | 24.8 |
| 2 to 4 | 30.2 | 0 | 31.8 | 36.3 |
| 5 or more | 49.1 | 0 | 26.1 | 38.9 |
| Ever paid for sex | ||||
| No | 99.9 | 100 | 99.4 | 99.9 |
| Yes | [[0.1]] | 0 | [[0.6]] | [[0.1]] |
| Denominators† | ||||
| Unweighted, n | 6658 | 441 | 431 | 1048 |
| Weighted, n | 5764 | 268 | 558 | 820 |
[ ] Small numerator (between 30 and 50 participants).
[[ ]] Small numerator (<30 participants).
*Not defined when asked in interview.
†All participants (denominators vary across variables because of item non-response).