Less sex, more housework for retired Americans

Life after retirement means less sex and more housework but most Americans who have given up working say they are happier, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

Sleep and watching television also goes up, but 38 percent of the 55-75 year olds questioned in the survey by senior citizen group AARP for its magazine said that retirement had made their relationship stronger.

Sex seems to take the biggest hit, despite the increase in leisure time after retirement. Some 25 percent of men and 19 percent of women said they had less sex than when they were working.

Housework, one of the biggest bugbears of coupledom, appears just as troublesome in retirement with men and women having different views of how much they do.

Although 80 percent of men who are retired said they believed they had increased their share of household chores, only 47 percent of women still working agreed that their retired menfolk were doing more.

Despite the different perceptions, 74 percent of those questioned said they were happier having retired, compared to 21 percent who said there was more tension in their marriage.

AARP (formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons) The Magazine has a circulation of about 34 million and is seen as the voice of Americans 50 years and older.

The survey, conducted in November, consisted of 1,064 adults between 55-75 who were retired themselves or whose partners were retired.

本周三公布的一项调查发现，尽管美国人退休后意味着性生活减少，家务活增多，但多数人称他们比退休前更快乐。

此外，退休人士的睡眠和看电视时间也有所增加，但38%的受访者称退休后他们的夫妻关系更加稳固。这项由AARP老年人组织为其社刊开展的调查主要对55岁至75岁之间的老年人进行了访问。

调查显示，尽管退休后的空闲时间增多，但性生活似乎受到了最大的冲击。约25%的受访男性和19%的女性称退休后他们的性生活频率不如从前。

最让人头疼的家庭问题之一“家务活”在退休后依然很“头疼”，男女双方对他们在家务活上的“贡献”看法不一。

80%的受访男性称，他们退休后分担了更多的家务活，而仅有47%的未退休女性同意这一看法。

尽管如此，74%的受访者称他们退休后更加快乐，仅有21%的人称他们的夫妻矛盾增多。

美国退休人士协会会刊（AARP, American Association of Retired Persons）主要关注对象是50岁以上的老年人，其发行量约为3400万。

这项于上月开展的调查共有1064名55岁至75岁之间的老年人参加，这些人要么本人已退休，要么老伴已退休。