Changes in Premarital Coital Experience of Recent Decade-of-Birth Cohorts of Urban American Women

Trends in premarital coitus were examined by cohort analyses of samples of white and black women living in 16 U. S. cities. The data suggest (1) increases in premarital coitus for each successive cohort, with the most rapid increase appearing for those age 15-19 in the late 1960s; (2) these increases were not attributable to changes in socioeconomic status; and (3) lower rates of premarital coitus among whites than blacks for all cohorts, regardless of socioeconomic status. The findings are compared with the Kinsey data.