Love is a fickle thing. But it gets even worse in a precarious economy.
An anonymous person wrote into The Cut’s advice column, Going Through It, about how the uncertain economy led to their recent breakup with their boyfriend.
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The Seattle-based reader, who calls themselves “Broken Up,” explained that their boyfriend quit his job last year and has been working five jobs to make ends meet. The job market in Seattle isn’t panning out for the boyfriend, so he decided to move back to Las Vegas to be with his family.
The couple decided to break up rather than do long distance, partly due to the cost of flying back and forth to see each other.
“It really hurts to know the only reason this is happening is because of this s—ty economy and s—ty job market,” Broken Up writes. “It feels so unfair for something that was going really well to just end for reasons beyond my control.”
But Broken Up isn’t the only one whose relationship has been affected by money.
Faster move in
Broken Up says that they had been with their boyfriend for a little over a year before they decided to end it due to financial reasons. “Not being able to fully show up for each other while not having enough time together to recalibrate has made the past few months feel like something just isn’t quite working (something we’ve both acknowledged),” they wrote.
But other couples are doing the opposite: they’re moving in together within a short time period in order to save money.
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Eighty percent of Gen Z and 76% of millennial respondents were significantly more likely to be persuaded by money and logistics when moving in with a romantic partner, according to a 2023 Realtor.com survey. Only 44% of Baby Boomers and 56% of Gen X feel the same way.
This may be due to the incredibly expensive rental market that young people currently face. When Boomers met their mates in 1980, iPropertyManagement says that the median rent was $243. Today, it’s $1,653, according to Redfin’s most recent numbers.
Though inflation will always increase rent prices, $243 in 2024 dollars only translates to $923.15, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index calculator.
The Realtor.com survey discovered that couples were smart to move in with each other. A fifth of them (20%) saved between $501 and $1,000 per month thanks to cohabitation.
Worse communication
Though money can have a positive impact on your relationship, it can also negatively impact it.
A recent study in the Journal of Consumer Psychology discovered that financial stress can often lead to worse communication between partners.
“… we found that when individuals experience high (vs. low) financial stress, they are less likely to communicate with their partner about finances due to greater anticipated conflict,” wrote the study’s authors, who are three professors at Yale and Cornell.
In a New York Times article about the study, financial therapist Aja Evans warns that not talking about money issues in a relationship can severely hurt your wallet.
“It’s a defense mechanism,” she said. “But with financial issues, the more you avoid it, the worse it gets.”
Personal finance celebrity Ramit Sethi told CNBC that a healthy relationship includes financial discussions. He recommends a monthly “rich life review” to discuss your joint and separate finances with your partner.
“One of the things that financially successful couples do is they talk about money regularly and proactively,” said Sethi.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Source Agencies
