Newsflash: Older Americans are Still Doing it! After talking with more than 3,000 people about their sex lives, Researchers at the University of Chicago have discovered that many 'older Americans' are still enjoying themselves in an intimate way.

I don't know about you, but for me it wasn't too surprising to hear that more than half of people ages 57-64 are still active (after all, 50 is the new 30, isn't it?). But, it was a little astonishing to hear that one-third of those surveyed ages 75-85, said they're still doing it, too!

The day the survey came out, I was listening a radio talk show, when a seventy-something woman called in to clarify that 'just because you get to a certain age, doesn't mean you stop doing the things you've been enjoying most of your life.' Good point.

Does Having Sex Keep You Healthy? You may want to consider regularly enjoying intimacy with your partner, just as you take your daily vitamins to stay healthy. The survey found that people in 'very good' or 'excellent' health are more likely to still be sexually active.

Live Close - Visit Often

'Doing it' not, there are some changing attitudes toward marriage and commitment among women over age 50. Jane Glenn Haas, founder of WomanSage.org, a non-profit group for women at mid-life, discovered this on a recent blog she wrote titled "Live Close, Visit Often." Hundreds of responses from female readers revealed that middle-aged women aren't lining up to get (re)married the way their mothers would have been if they were alone.

"We found that women over 50, whether they're divorced or widowed, probably don't want to get re-married, said Haas. "It's a generational thing. It's part of a new changing social situation because women have worked outside the home."

"Socially you don't need to be married, and if you have your own money, financially you don't need to be married," adds Haas. "A lot of (women), if they have had an unpleasant divorce, or they were a caregiver for someone in late life, they don't want to necessarily get started all over again with a marriage. But, they would be happy if you lived close and visited often."

Haas says she has received over 900 responses to her 'Live Close, Visit Often' survey and found some interesting things. "Overwhelmingly, at least two thirds of the women say they don't want to get remarried and only about a third of them want a relationship. They're ready to take a little time out."

"They've raised the kids and have had marriage already. There are also women who have never been married or had children by choice hitting middle age," Haas says "It's a whole new generation of women coming into retirement.... a whole different scenario than what our mother's had." Haas predicts the independent attitude of women today will change the way relationships form in the future.

As an authority on women 50-plus, Haas was recently asked by a TV reporter what women in a mid-life crisis do (the male reporter speculated that perhaps middle aged women do what men having a mid-life crisis do - buy a red convertible). Hewas probably surprised by Jane's reply,which was ' Often, they get divorced!' "Over 60% of divorces after age 50 are initiated by women."

Haas is just starting to look more in depth at the reasons behind late-life divorce. But, she says her assumption is that it's because women are sticking with marriage until the kids are grown, then are ready to go out on their own.

Haas says she wants to make it clear that she's not anti-marriage. "I got a lot of emails from men who seemed to think that I was trying to promote the idea of not getting married I'm merely reporting." Laughing, she adds "do not kill the messenger!"

Listen to the Lisa.fm radio interview with Jane Glenn Haas at www.lisa.fm. Click on 'listen now' or 'podcasts.'' For more information on WomanSage, a non-profit group dedicated to educating, empowering and fostering mentoring relationships among women at mid-life, visit www.womansage.org.