Is Age a Factor in Open Relationships?

More people are turning towards open relationships to find satisfaction in their lives. Finding that perfect someone or multiple people to spend our lives with is a daunting prospect. Especially if you’re someone that’s used to society telling you that monogamy is how it’s supposed to be and not to stray from the path.

A Relationship for Every Age

Does age really matter? Not really. In a study done here, it’s found that opening relationships across all ages within society to a degree is accepted. Millennials are incredibly open to this, though they’re also having less in the way of children, which could be a problem in the long term. Most couples that are open to these kinds of relationships are between the ages of 22-44. Finding dating apps like OkCupid that have sections for them isn’t surprising given society and its hookup culture.

More and more people are turning towards making sure that they feel that their lives are fulfilling. This isn’t your grandparent’s world anymore, where working one job for 30 years or being in the same monogamous marriage for 50 is going to do. Those that are younger are looking for more freedom in their relationships after working long hours each week.

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t older couples out there that aren’t swingers or living in open relationships. There are more than a few out there. But the percentage of those over 45 are far fewer and less likely to be open to an open relationship. In this study[AP4], those over 65 were more prone to be against an open relationship. However, those that were in one reported more satisfaction and happiness.

OkCupid Tells a Story

As mentioned, OkCupid has opened up its app for groups to get together with open relationships in mind. Most of its user base is using this as it’s a platform for hookups as they’re “seriously interested” in group sex. The average age of the OkCupid user is about 32 years old (millennials being defined as ages 22-38) out of 2.5 million monthly users. Most of the registered users of OkCupid now fall under being non-monogamous. This makes it an ideal app for finding a partner with your current interest, or a single person partnering with an established couple.

There are other apps on the market that cater to those that have open relationships. However, OkCupid is the first mainstream app that opened its platform to do this found that nearlyall of its users had looked up at some point in open relationships. This goes to show that not only is an open relationship, something that interests people, they’re open to finding out more and getting involved.

Spanning Generations

While Millennials are taking up open relationships more than their peers at a whopping 29 percent, adults under the age of 30 believe that it’s morally acceptable to do so. Those over the age of 65 at 6 percent consider it not to be acceptable at all. Between the ages of 18-44, over 17 percent said they’d had sex with someone else with the consent of their partner, and 20 percent of adults tried some kind of open relationship in their lives. According to this study here regarding being faithful to one partner only, 28 percent of people believe that it’s not natural to be attracted to only one person in life.

With all those statistics aside, it suffices to say that open relationships span across the generations. Though it’s clear that those under the age of 44 are in them more, with a good percentage of about 4-5 percent of the population being in an open or poly relationship. While this doesn’t seem like a lot and the culture of polyamory is small compared to monogamous relationships, when looking at other things in contrast, such as being LGBTQIA, polyamory is ahead of the game.

Those that are in open relationships report higher happiness, satisfaction, and general wellbeing in their lives. Making sure that you’re in one for the right reasons, and ensuring that both you and those you’re involved with set boundaries, and know any rules that need to be made beforehand when dealing with multiple partners is key to a healthy relationship.

Despite the subculture of polyamory being small, the interest in it is enormous, natural, and out there for you to explore. Dive in and see what options are out there for you. It may surprise you at what you find.