Picture two women, both in their mid-thirties, both sexually active. One has a stable income, affordable mortgage payments, and access to healthcare. The other juggles multiple jobs, worries about rent, and skips visits to the doctor in order to make ends meet. Their lives may differ in many ways—including in the bedroom.
While poverty’s link to sexual health risks is well-documented, its impact on the positive side of sexuality remains largely ignored. This oversight limits public health efforts and deepens inequalities in accessing a fulfilling sex live, an essential part of overall wellbeing.
A 2022 study published in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health dives into this gap, examining how financial stress shapes sexual wellbeing. The main takeaway? Economic hardship doesn’t just affect daily survival—it can stand in the way of orgasm, sexual satisfaction, and overall sexual function.
Studying socioeconomics and sexual wellbeing
To uncover the relationship between financial stability and sexual wellbeing, this study focused on 2,581 sexually active U.S. women (ages 18–44) seeking reproductive healthcare.
The data comes from the HER Salt Lake Initiative, a long-term study in Salt Lake County, Utah. It tracked individuals using free birth control services from March 2016 to March 2017.
Researchers used two measures to assess sexual wellbeing: a short version of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI6) and the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale (NSSS).
The FSFI6 is a six-item scale that evaluates desire, arousal, pain, lubrication, orgasm frequency, and overall sexual satisfaction. It provides a clinical measure of sexual functioning by assessing both physical and psychological components of sexual experiences.
The NSSS takes a broader approach to sexual satisfaction, capturing three dimensions. It measures individual-level factors, such as the ability to fully let go during sex, interpersonal factors, like emotional closeness, and behavioral factors, including variety in sexual activity.
Participants also rated their overall sex life on a scale of 1 to 100.
In addition, researchers examined socioeconomic factors. This included whether participants could afford basic living needs, received public financial assistance, struggled to pay for housing, food, transportation, or medical care, and their income relative to the federal poverty line.
Results: Money matters for sexual flourishing
The study found a strong, consistent link between economic resources and sexual wellbeing. Specifically, women facing more socioeconomic challenges showed fewer signs of sexual flourishing.
The authors emphasized this connection, stating, “financial scarcity may reduce sexual satisfaction, orgasm, and overall functioning. These results remind us that structural constraints affect sexual bodies.”
Women who consistently had enough money for basic needs in the last month reported higher sexual satisfaction on the FSFI6. Of them, 3 out of 4 were moderately to very sexually satisfied, with an average sex-life rating of 75/100. In contrast, only 56% of those who struggled financially felt the same, with an average rating dropping to 66/100.
As for financial assistance, those who relied on it were more likely to report lower sexual functioning on the FSFI6. Thirty percent of recipients scored in the lowest range, compared to 19% of non-recipients.
Financial struggles with essentials, like food, housing, transportation, or medical care in the past year, were also linked to lower sexual satisfaction. About 1 in 4 of those facing these hardships had the lowest NSSS scores. In comparison, only 18% of financially stable individuals in these areas reported similarly low scores.
Sexual wellbeing: a luxury not everyone can afford
When women struggle with basic needs—like affording food, transportation, or medical care—it’s not just their overall health at stake.
The present findings show that financial hardship also gets in the way of enjoying a fulfilling sex life. Those with fewer economic resources reported lower sexual satisfaction and function.
Still, this study only offers a snapshot into the connection between sex, poverty, and public health. Future research needs to expand its scope to different genders, and examine how ethnicity, cultural norms, and sexual identity affect sexual flourishing.
As the authors conclude, “To support and promote positive sexual health, the public health field must continue to focus on economic reform and poverty reduction as a critical aspect of helping people achieve their full health and wellbeing potential.”
The message is clear: until economic inequality is tackled, the freedom to thrive sexually will remain a luxury for many.
