Mean lifetime and paid partner numbers, and percentage of total partnerships paid among men who have ever paid for sex, by key demographic, general health, sexual behaviour and sexual health variables
| Mean (SD) number of lifetime sexual partners | Proportion of total partnerships paid* | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Paid | Participants†,‡ | Per cent | 95% CI§ | Partners† | |
| All men who ever paid for sex | 31.6 (43.7) | 5.8 (12.6) | 616, 774 | 18.4 | (18.2 to 18.7) | 19465, 23956 |
| Demographics | ||||||
| Age group (years) | ||||||
| 16–24 | 20.1 (18.2) | 2.6 (3.5) | 60, 44 | 12.8 | (12.4 to 13.3) | 1203, 896 |
| 25–34 | 28.6 (32.6) | 3.7 (5.9) | 192, 166 | 13.4 | (13.0 to 13.8) | 5484, 4536 |
| 35–44 | 33.0 (45.4) | 5.1 (8.8) | 106, 176 | 14.9 | (14.4 to 15.5) | 3495, 6354 |
| 45–54 | 35.7 (43.7) | 7.3 (13.9) | 107, 173 | 20.6 | (20.0 to 21.1) | 3823, 6089 |
| 55–64 | 32.5 (48.5) | 7.5 (15.1) | 98, 147 | 23.5 | (22.6 to 24.3) | 3189, 4807 |
| 65–74 | 30.4 (58.8) | 7.4 (22.3) | 53, 68 | 26.1 | (24.8 to 27.5) | 1613, 2308 |
| Relationship status at interview | ||||||
| Living with a partner | 29.8 (36.0) | 5.1 (8.3) | 321, 505 | 17.3 | (17.0 to 17.6) | 9579, 14938 |
| In a steady, non-cohabiting relationship | 31.8 (32.6) | 4.1 (7.0) | 69, 60 | 13.2 | (12.5 to 13.9) | 2196, 1720 |
| No current steady partner | 33.7 (53.5) | 8.1 (20.1) | 225, 208 | 23.6 | (23.0 to 24.3) | 7589, 6647 |
| NS-SEC14 code (individual socioeconomic status) | ||||||
| Semiroutine/routine | 33.8 (52.4) | 6.9 (17.9) | 206, 233 | 20.2 | (19.7 to 20.7) | 6958, 7619 |
| Intermediate | 30.1 (40.3) | 5.5 (9.2) | 108, 135 | 19.3 | (18.6 to 20.0) | 3246, 4345 |
| Managerial/professional | 30.7 (34.5) | 5.3 (9.8) | 244, 343 | 17.3 | (16.9 to 17.8) | 7487, 10138 |
| Full-time student | 26.1 (34.5) | 2.3 (2.4) | 19, 19 | 10.5 | (9.2 to 11.9) | 495, 433 |
| No job (10+ h/week) or not in past 10 years | 24.0 (22.6) | 6.4 (8.8) | 36, 40 | 28.4 | (27.2 to 29.7) | 863, 849 |
| Resident in Greater London | ||||||
| No | 31.5 (43.6) | 5.5 (11.8) | 533, 641 | 17.7 | (17.4 to 18.0) | 16790, 20150 |
| Yes | 32.1 (44.2) | 7.1 (15.9) | 83, 133 | 21.7 | (20.8 to 22.7) | 2662, 3703 |
| Quintiles of Index of Multiple Deprivation** | ||||||
| 1 (least deprived) | 31.9 (42.8) | 5.3 (10.6) | 130, 167 | 16.9 | (16.3 to 17.5) | 4141, 4939 |
| 2 | 24.3 (24.4) | 3.5 (4.8) | 110, 152 | 14.5 | (13.9 to 15.0) | 2673, 3431 |
| 3 | 31.9 (43.1) | 5.9 (8.1) | 123, 156 | 18.5 | (17.8 to 19.1) | 3928, 4892 |
| 4 | 35.4 (55.5) | 7.3 (19.5) | 112, 139 | 21.2 | (20.3 to 22.1) | 3963, 5033 |
| 5 (most deprived) | 34.7 (46.8) | 7.1 (15.2) | 141, 159 | 20.5 | (19.9 to 21.1) | 4890, 5442 |
| General health | ||||||
| Self-reported health status | ||||||
| Very good/good | 31.0 (40.6) | 5.7 (12.7) | 496, 631 | 18.4 | (18.0 to 18.7) | 15397, 19130 |
| Fair | 38.1 (61.2) | 6.7 (13.4) | 92, 110 | 17.7 | (17.0 to 18.4) | 3508, 4121 |
| Bad/very bad | 18.2 (20.9) | 5.5 (6.2) | 27, 31 | 32.2 | (30.4 to 33.9) | 490, 610 |
| Current frequency of binge drinking†† | ||||||
| Never/rarely | 30.0 (45.3) | 5.6 (10.3) | 303, 416 | 18.9 | (18.5 to 19.3) | 9079, 11912 |
| Monthly | 30.8 (31.8) | 4.3 (5.8) | 112, 133 | 13.9 | (13.5 to 14.4) | 3449, 4047 |
| Weekly/daily | 37.2 (49.0) | 7.3 (18.5) | 171, 190 | 19.6 | (19.0 to 20.2) | 6357, 6972 |
| Current smoking status | ||||||
| Never smoked | 27.9 (43.4) | 6.5 (16.6) | 220, 283 | 23.6 | (23.1 to 24.2) | 6135, 8129 |
| Ex-smoker | 31.4 (42.7) | 5.6 (10.9) | 178, 253 | 18.2 | (17.7 to 18.8) | 5597, 7495 |
| Current smoker | 36.2 (44.6) | 5.1 (7.9) | 218, 238 | 14.1 | (13.7 to 14.5) | 7885, 8160 |
| Drug use, past year | ||||||
| No | 29.5 (45.6) | 6.1 (13.8) | 436, 591 | 20.9 | (20.6 to 21.3) | 12877, 17136 |
| Yes, cannabis only | 29.7 (27.1) | 5.1 (9.9) | 64, 66 | 18.0 | (17.1 to 18.8) | 1904, 1816 |
| Yes, other hard drugs | 43.1 (39.2) | 4.4 (5.7) | 116, 116 | 10.3 | (9.9 to 10.7) | 5005, 4663 |
| Sexual behaviour | ||||||
| New foreign sex partners abroad, past 5 years‡‡ | ||||||
| No | 30.7 (45.7) | 5.5 (11.7) | 474, 610 | 18.2 | (17.9 to 18.4) | 14541, 18705 |
| Yes | 35.2 (35.0) | 7.0 (15.7) | 141, 163 | 19.4 | (18.7 to 20.1) | 4959, 5221 |
| Same sex contact, past 5 years | ||||||
| No | 29.3 (40.1) | 5.3 (11.8) | 583, 726 | 18.3 | (18.0 to 18.6) | 17054, 20896 |
| Yes | 67.0 (71.6) | 13.1 (20.0) | 33, 48 | 19.9 | (18.6 to 21.2) | 2211, 3325 |
| Used internet to find sexual partners, past year | ||||||
| No | 29.8 (41.9) | 5.5 (12.5) | 530, 680 | 18.7 | (18.4 to 19.0) | 15801, 20125 |
| Yes | 44.4 (52.8) | 8.0 (13.5) | 86, 95 | 17.7 | (16.7 to 18.6) | 3821, 3734 |
| Used condom for HIV/STI prevention, past year | ||||||
| No | 30.5 (41.3) | 5.4 (11.3) | 453, 612 | 17.9 | (17.6 to 18.2) | 13802, 18657 |
| Yes | 29.6 (40.1) | 6.0 (12.5) | 151, 145 | 20.1 | (19.5 to 20.7) | 4471, 4331 |
| Overlap between partners, past 5 years | ||||||
| No | 25.9 (37.8) | 5.1 (10.8) | 395, 524 | 20.0 | (19.7 to 20.3) | 10242, 12823 |
| Yes | 43.7 (52.1) | 7.3 (15.7) | 219, 248 | 16.6 | (16.0 to 17.1) | 9567, 10614 |
| Sexual health | ||||||
| Low sexual function, past year§§ | ||||||
| No | 33.5 (45.4) | 5.5 (10.8) | 386, 489 | 16.3 | (16.0 to 16.7) | 12935, 15843 |
| Yes | 33.1 (43.2) | 6.8 (13.1) | 139, 182 | 20.9 | (20.3 to 21.5) | 4602, 6157 |
| Sexual health clinic attendance, past 5 years | ||||||
| No | 28.9 (42.0) | 5.5 (12.2) | 484, 637 | 19.3 | (19.0 to 19.6) | 14008, 18677 |
| Yes | 44.1 (50.6) | 7.2 (15.2) | 117, 120 | 16.1 | (15.5 to 16.8) | 5157, 4468 |
| HIV test, past 5 years | ||||||
| No | 29.8 (42.4) | 5.4 (12.0) | 457, 583 | 18.2 | (17.9 to 18.6) | 13622, 17207 |
| Yes | 40.2 (44.8) | 6.8 (14.0) | 125, 148 | 16.5 | (15.9 to 17.1) | 5029, 5378 |
| STI diagnosis/es, past 5 years¶¶ | ||||||
| No | 30.4 (41.8) | 5.4 (11.8) | 543, 690 | 17.9 | (17.6 to 18.2) | 16530, 20734 |
| Yes | 45.4 (60.2) | 9.7 (19.1) | 62, 69 | 21.2 | (20.5 to 22.0) | 2818, 2806 |
*Calculated as total paid partners divided by total lifetime partners for all men in each group.
†Unweighted, weighted denominators.
‡Small denominators (<30)13 may produce less reliable estimates for the population of MPS.
§CI is estimated using 100 bootstrapped replications of each estimate.
**Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is a multidimensional measure of area (neighbourhood)-level deprivation based on the participant's postcode: IMD scores for England, Scotland and Wales were adjusted before being combined and assigned to quintiles, using a method by Payne and Abel.15
††More than 8 units at one time.16
‡‡Excludes partners from the UK while outside of the UK.
§§Sexual function score calculated using the Natsal-SF17 ,18 only for the population who were sexually active the past year.
¶¶STIs include genital warts, trichomonas, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, syphilis, non-specific or non-gonococcal urethritis, and pelvic inflammatory disease.
MPS, men who pay for sex; NS-SEC, National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification; STI, sexually transmitted infection.