Oli Lipski
Are you female, 25-34, bisexual, a vegan and work in accounting in England? Well, according to a SEXTECHGUIDE-commissioned YouGov survey of 2,095 Brits, this person is the most likely to use and own, multiple sex toys – and be willing to share that information with us.
That’s not to say the older generation aren’t using toys. Considering taboo around sex is still prevalent, it’s not surprising that many people just aren’t comfortable telling anybody about this part of their private lives.
To celebrate the launch of our sister-site SEXTECH.co.uk, we wanted to learn all about your sex toy habits, so we asked you with the help of YouGov.
Overall, results found that only 18% of men in Britain own a sex toy, compared to 28% of women. However, there was only a 4% difference between men and women who have used a toy at least once – 36% of men vs 40% of women.
SEXTECHGUIDE founder, Ben Woods, remarks that “while there are other factors to potentially take into account, it seems that male attitudes towards sex toys remain more stigmatised than those of women”.
Women tend to find more value in sex tech ownership, with only 18% who have used a sex toy stating they have never owned any. This almost doubles with men (35%), suggesting more male education is needed with the role of sex toys in enhancing the bedroom experience
Varying across age, sex and location, as well as by diet, occupation, sexual orientation, and relationship styles, we discovered that younger generations are much more open to talking about their sex lives.
Here’s a quick breakdown of some key findings.
Sex Toy Ownership by Age
Over half (52%) of people in the 18-24 year old and 35-44 year old groups own a sex toy, compared to just 34% of those aged 55 or older. The most likely age group to own a sex toy is 25 – 34 year olds at 61%.
While 18%-23% of under 55s were happy providing information about whether they owned sex toys, for the group born before 1964, around double chose not to answer the question.
Perhaps this is a sign of the times. Could the stereotypical prudishness of British sex culture be slowly fading away?
Most popular types of sex toy by age
In the sex toy race, we wondered what your favourite toys actually were … Here are the scores for the most popular toys in each age group.
- 18-24 year olds were most likely to have tried anal toys and VR porn
- 25-34 year olds most enjoy experimenting with kink toys, strap-ons and male masturbators
- 35-44 year olds scored highest use of dildos and nipple toys
- 45-54 year olds were most likely to use vibrators and cock rings
- 55+ year olds win the prize of avoidance, with 45% choosing not to answer, and scoring lowest on all toys across the board
Vibrators ranked as the most popular toy, with an average 55% rate of use across all ages. Only 15 people out of the entire survey had tried watching VR porn, however.
Sex toy use by location
Only 42% of English people had never used a sex toy, compared to 46% of Welsh and 51% of Scottish people!
The colder your environment, the less friskily-inclined you may be? Perhaps.
Sex toy ownership by diet
More vegans and pescatarians (2 in 3) own at least one sex toy.
However, we found only a 1% difference between meat eaters and vegetarians. Over half of flexitarians that have used a sex toy also own one.
Sex toy ownership by profession
Out of all the professions recorded, accountants claimed they were having the most sex generally (at least once a day for at least 20% of them).
7 out of 11 accountants who have used sex toys, also own at least one sex toy. This is followed by 52% of people working in the Education sector, and 54% of medical and healthcare professionals. In fact, 3% of medical workers own more than 10 sex toys!
Work in retail, manufacturing or IT and Telecoms? Only 30-34% of the people that have used a sex toy in those professions actually own one.
Sex toy use by sexual orientation
Of all the sexual orientations recorded, heterosexuals were the least likely to own a sex toy, with only 45% having used one.
Where 72% bisexuals and 64% gay men and lesbians have used sex toys, British bisexuals were found to be more experimental with trying a wider variety of sex toys.
Sex toy use by relationship style
Roughly 20% of people who identified as monogamous, single and dating all use sex toys less often than once a month. However, those who were dating were more likely to use sex toys 1-3 times a month than those single, or in a monogamous relationship.
When it comes to more polyamorous relationship styles, sex toys were found to be a lot more prevalent. For example, a whopping 60% of people in throuples use sex toys 1-6 times a week.
Take Away
So what have we really learned from these stats?
Well, the younger generation are much more open to sharing information about their sex lives; women are more likely to own a sex toy; non-heterosexuals have tried a wider variety of sex toys; non-monogamous people use sex toys more frequently; accountants are the most sexually active and healthcare workers own the highest number of sex toys.
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2095 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 18th-21st October 2019. The survey was carried out online.The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
Read Next: Best VR porn: 24+ top adult virtual reality sites reviewed and ranked
