Does the size of your wallet make or break a healthy sex life? A survey conducted in Spain says "yes."

According to the first Spanish National Sexual Health Survey carried out in 2009, socioeconomic factors weigh in, thus indicating that "rich, Spanish women have better sex lives than poor ones."

While this doesn't mean that women or men of varying socioeconomic backgrounds can't enjoy themselves, or that their sex lives are bad, "Spanish people are apparently having a great time," Science 2.0 points out, but there are some elements of the study to consider.

"Scholars from the Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) analyzed the influence of various socioeconomic factors on the results of the 2009 survey, which consisted of 9,850 interviews and showed that approximately 90 percent of men and women claimed to be very satisfied or quite satisfied with their sex life in general, and that 95 percent were satisfied with the sexual relations they had had during the previous year. Ninety-seven percent of men and 96 percent of women claimed to be more satisfied with sexual relations they had with a stable partner than with a casual partner, though that was still a very civilized 88 percent of men and 80 percent of women."

When it comes to safe sexual relations, "77 percent of women and 73 percent of men claimed to have used contraception habitually with a stable partner during the last year," whereas in the case of sexual relations with a casual partner -- both men and women increased their protection, showing that "these percentages rose to 92 percent for women and 86 percent for men."

According to the ASPB, in this case, men and women are on the same playing field where "socioeconomic factors influence men as much as women, even at the different times analyzed and with the different types of partner."

"Those people with a lower socioeconomic status are always those who use less contraception," Dolores Ruiz, the main author of the study, told Servicio de Información y Noticias Científicas (SINC). 

Does higher social status really equal more satisfaction?

While the data already indicates "that the state of sexual health of the young adult population in Spain is generally quite good, the authors found socioeconomic and gender inequalities in practically all of the aspects studied," Science 2.0 adds.

"People that have a more disadvantaged socioeconomic status tend to have less satisfying and less safe sexual relations, as well as suffering more experiences of sexual abuse. Furthermore, women usually suffer more experiences of sexual abuse than men and they claim to have less sexual gratification during their first sexual intercourse," Ruiz explains. 

So if you are wealthy and/or hail from a higher socioeconomic status, there is a tendency for one to have "a better awareness of their own needs and a greater capacity for developing their sexuality in a way which is satisfying for them, as well as having greater control over the use of contraception."

"There is a need to introduce public policies which aim to reduce socioeconomic and gender inequalities that we have found in sexual satisfaction, in the use of contraceptives and in abusive sexual relations within the Spanish population," Ruiz said.