Money matters

It’s one thing to engage in small talk – from the weather to ‘how was your weekend?’ – but money matters can be a trickier subject. So, when it comes to conversations with our companions, how often does finance feature?

On average, we discuss finances with a partner 9 times a month. But we wanted to examine how this differs across the generations.

In terms of frequency, the most likely answer was ‘once a week’ (23% of respondents), followed by ‘two to three days a week’ (17%) and ‘once a month’ (15%).

A solid 13% of people discuss money with their partner ‘every day’. Just 3% answered ‘never’.

In an average month, people in Greater London discuss finance the most times (10.84), while the lowest frequency was in Northern Ireland (7.35).

Whether we’re saving for a deposit on a first home, starting a family, or estate planning in later life, people understandably face different challenges when it comes to balancing their personal and financial needs.

27% of people told us they don’t perceive any challenges in managing finances with their other half. But the majority gave a different response.

Overall, the biggest challenges were saving for future expenses (13%), managing different spending habits (11%), and setting and sticking a budget together (10%). 

Beyond the headline figures, the youngest participants (18-24-year-olds) were the most likely (23%) to say ‘saving for future expenses’ was their biggest financial challenge in their relationship. In contrast, just 8% of over 55s gave this answer. 

Could it be that the cost of housing has shaped young people’s financial priorities like never before? Even in real terms (adjusted for inflation), UK house prices have risen by more than 100% since 1980, based on figures from Nationwide Building Society.

To illustrate the contrast, just 7% of 18-24-year-olds said they don’t perceive any challenges in managing finances with their partner. By comparison, a clear majority (54%) of over 55s said they have no such challenges.

Across the UK, people in Wales were the most likely (37%) to say they experience no challenges with planning finances in their relationship, while those in Greater London were the least likely (17%) to answer in this way.

Our financial status shapes our individual spending power, so what happens in a collective context? With millions of Brits feeling the financial pinch, some couples are choosing to pool their resources to simplify their spending.

All in all, 64% of people share a bank account with their partner, with 30% sharing an account for all their money and 34% using a shared account for join expenses such as household, family, and shared bills. 

In Yorkshire and the Humber, many couples embrace the ‘all or nothing’ approach to shared bank accounts. Here, people were most likely to say ‘yes, for all of our money’ (37%) and the least likely to say ‘yes, but only for joint expenses’ (25%).

Meanwhile, Greater Londoners were the most likely to say ‘yes’ as a whole (71%), but were also most likely to say ‘yes, but only for join expenses’ (42%).

But of course, it’s one thing to open a shared bank account, but when during a relationship do couples tend to double-up?

• 4.5 is the mean number of years it takes for couples to open a joint bank account. But there was a significant age gap: the average wait for 18-24-year-olds is 2 years whereas for over 55s it’s 7 years.
• More than a quarter (28%) take the plunge early and set up a joint bank account within the first year of a relationship. This rises to 34% among male respondents compared to 22% of females.
• People in the South East wait the longest (5.4 years) to open a joint bank account. The most rapid region for sharing bank accounts was Northern Ireland (3 years).

Naturally, when couples become banking buddies, there are decisions to make on how to split ongoing costs. But since every relationship is different, we wanted to explore how couples divvy up these financial commitments.

42% of respondents split expenses 50/50, while in 29% of respondents, one party pays for the majority of expenses. In a quarter of couples (25%), expenses are split proportional to salary. 

People in Brighton were the most likely (55%) to say ‘split 50/50’, while Plymouth residents were the likeliest to say ‘one party pays for the majority’ (35%).

In terms of age, 18-24-year-olds were the keenest (55%) to split equally, compared to 36% of 45-54-year-olds.

Finally, males were more likely than females – 31% versus 27% – to say ‘one party pays for the majority of expenses’.