How Do Women and Men Negotiate Sex in Later Life Relationships? A Qualitative Analysis of Data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of respondents in Wave 6 of ELSA.

	SRA-Q respondents (N = 7,079) Core members and partners		SRA-Q respondents (N = 6,201) Only core members		SRA-Q Open box respondents (N = 1,065) Core members and partners
	N (unweighted)	% (unweighted)	N (unweighted)	% (weighted)*	N (unweighted)	% (unweighted)
Age mean SD	65.7	9.5	65.3**	10.4	67.5	9.6
Age categories
below 50	145	2.1	NA	NA	22	2.1
50–59	1,839	26.0	1,439	35.5	205	19.3
60–69	2,776	39.2	2,533	32.3	413	38.7
70–79	1,713	24.2	1,661	20.4	304	28.5
80+	606	8.5	568	11.8	121	11.4
Gender
Male	3,124	44.1	2,745	48.3	399	37.5
Female	3,955	55.9	3,456	51.7	666	62.5
Partner status
Married/Cohabiting	5,259	74.3	4,398	70.2	745	70.0
Divorced/Separated	664	9.4	656	10.9	102	9.6
Widowed	850	12.0	841	13.0	178	16.6
Never Married	306	4.3	306	5.9	40	3.8
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual	6,441	91.0	5,641	90.3	944	88.6
Bisexual	353	5.0	294	4.8	67	6.4
Homosexual	53	0.8	46	1.0	10	0.9
Asexual	92	1.2	87	1.6	13	1.2
Missing	140	2.0	133	2.3	31	2.9
Ethnicity
Whites	6,892	97.4	6,053	94.8	1,034	97.1
Non-Whites	187	2.6	148	5.2	31	2.9
Wealth quintiles
Least deprived	1,452	20.5	1,233	17.4	214	20.1
4th	1,488	21.0	1,316	19.5	234	22.0
3rd	1,424	20.1	1,252	18.9	214	20.1
2nd	1,366	19.3	1,203	20.4	189	17.8
Most deprived	1,245	17.6	1,105	22.2	190	17.8
Missing	104	1.5	92	1.6	24	2.2
Self-assessed health
Excellent/V. Good	3,049	43.1	2,613	40.6	427	40.1
Good	2,236	31.6	1,983	32.6	325	30.5
Fair/Poor	1,792	25.2	1,603	26.7	311	29.2
Missing	2	0.1	2	0.1	2	0.2
Limiting longstanding illness
No	4,722	66.7	4,086	65.6	636	59.7
Yes	2,356	33.2	2,114	34.3	429	40.3
Missing	1	0.1	1	0.1	-	-
Total	7,079	100.0	6,201	100.0	1,065	100.0

*Weighted percentages using survey weights to correct for sampling probabilities and differential non-response accounting for the differential probability of being included in the Wave 6 and non-response to the SRA-Q. More info here: https://www.elsa-project.ac.uk/data-and-documentation. ** weighted Mean SD presented. NA = Not applicable.

Table 2. Summary of respondents in Wave 8 of ELSA.

	SRA-Q respondents (N = 5,717) Core members and partners		SRA-Q respondents (N = 4,883) Only core members		Open box respondents (N = 922) Core members and partners
	N (unweighted)	% (unweighted)	N (unweighted)	% (weighted)*	N (unweighted	% (unweighted)
Age mean SD	67.8	9.01	66.5**	10.05	69.1	9.01
Age categories
below 50	68	1.2	NA	NA	4	0.4
50–59	921	16.1	605	30.9	132	14.4
60–69	2,471	43.2	2,120	33.0	359	38.9
70–79	1,595	27.9	1,526	23.0	283	30.7
80+	662	11.6	632	13.1	144	15.6
Gender
Male	2,529	44.2	2,177	47.6	350	38.0
Female	3,188	55.8	2,706	52.4	572	62.0
Partner status
Married/Cohabiting	4,219	73.8	3,403	70.3	640	69.4
Divorced/Separated	584	10.2	573	11.5	102	11.1
Widowed	669	11.7	664	12.2	143	15.5
Never Married	245	4.3	243	6.0	37	4.0
Sexual orientation†
Heterosexual	4,086	71.5	3,557	66.2	681	73.9
Bisexual	249	4.4	209	3.9	47	5.1
Homosexual	32	0.6	28	0.5	6	0.7
Asexual	46	0.8	43	0.9	8	0.8
Missing	1,304	22.8	1,046	28.5	180	19.5
Ethnicity
Whites	5,561	97.3	4,757	95.0	900	97.6
Non-Whites	156	2.7	126	5.0	22	2.4
Wealth quintiles
Least deprived	1,154	20.2	961	16.9	205	22.2
4th	1,165	20.4	983	18.7	220	23.9
3rd	1,196	20.9	1,022	19.9	164	17.7
2nd	1,111	19.4	975	20.4	161	17.5
Most deprived	1,036	18.1	895	22.9	159	17.3
Missing	55	1.0	47	1.2	13	1.4
Self-assessed health
Excellent/V. Good	2,454	42.9	2,033	40.7	369	40.0
Good	1,846	32.3	1,600	32.8	302	32.8
Fair/Poor	1,417	24.8	1,250	26.5	251	27.2
Limiting longstanding illness
No	3,832	67.0	3,221	67.0	535	58.0
Yes	1,885	33.0	1,662	33.0	387	42.0
Total	5,717	100.0	4,883	100.0	922	100.0

*Weighted percentages using survey weights to correct for sampling probabilities and differential non-response accounting for the differential probability of being included in the Wave 8 and non-response to the SRA-Q. ** weighted Mean SD presented. †Sexual orientation from Wave 6. NA = Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The ELSA dataset is freely available from the UK Data Service to all bona fide researchers. The dataset can be accessed here: https://discover.ukdataservice.ac.uk/series/?sn=200011.