Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
Younger couples keep money separate
Who keeps money separate
By generation, about 88 percent of Gen Z keep separate accounts, along with 70 percent of Millennials and 59 percent of Gen X. Across married couples, 23 percent don't have a joint bank account.
Rising wives' earnings
Earnings shifted over the same stretch. In 45 percent of heterosexual marriages in the US, wives bring in the same amount as their husbands or more, three times the share of 50 years ago. The two trends may be linked: when men made all the money, it was treated as shared, and now that women earn as much or more, couples separate it.
Two ways to run it
Separate accounts probably work for plenty of couples. Others commingle everything: with a shared life and shared kids, one account is the natural setup, and keeping two can seem strange to them.
Why did women's earnings change couples' finances?
Until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, lenders in the United States could require a husband's signature before a married woman could get a credit card or loan. The law barred credit discrimination based on sex or marital status. As women entered the workforce in large numbers over the following decades, more wives held their own paychecks and their own accounts. That shifted joint household income toward two incomes that could be tracked separately.
How have couples historically run household money?
British sociologist Jan Pahl studied household finances in the 1980s and described several systems, from one partner managing all the money to full pooling to completely independent accounts. She found that who controlled the money often differed from who earned it. Her work showed that two couples with the same income could run their finances in very different ways. Later researchers built on her categories to compare pooled and separate arrangements.
Why does a generation gap show up in bank accounts?
Younger adults marry later, and they often have significant years of living with partners before sharing a home or a bank account. Many also have student debt and their own financial histories before the relationship starts. Digital banking makes opening and managing a separate account simple. Median age at first marriage in the US has risen to around 30 for men and 28 for women, according to the Census Bureau.
More from The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
