Behavior: Outmoded Virginity

Common gossip says that youngsters are engaging in sexual intercourse earlier these days than they used to, but there has been precious little statistical evidence to back it up. Now Johns Hopkins Demographers Melvin Zelnik and John Kantner have come up with some firm data. After studying the sexual habits of unmarried teen-age girls, they announced last week that virginity is indeed outmoded. If the study sample is representative, almost half of all single American girls become non-virgins before they are 20.

Basing their findings on interviews with 4,611 girls living at home or...

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