Married couples who pool their finances may be happier and stay together longer

Previous research suggests a correlation that couples who merge finances tend to be happier than those who don’t. But this is the first research to show a causal relationship — that married couples who have joint bank accounts not only have better relationships, but fight less over money and feel better about how their household finances are handled.

“When we surveyed people with different lengths of relationships, those who had merged accounts reported higher levels of commonality within their marriage compared to people with separate accounts, or even those who partially merged their finances,” said Jenny Olson, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Kelley. . “They often told us that they felt more like they were ‘in this together.’

“This is the best evidence we have to date for a question that shapes the future of couples, and the fact that we’re looking at these significant changes over two years, I think is pretty powerful testimony to the benefits of fusion. On average, the merger should warrant a conversation with your partner, given the effects we’re seeing here.”

The findings appear in the article “Common cents: structure of bank accounts and dynamics of couple relationships”, which will appear in the Consumer Research Magazine.

Olson and her co-authors recruited 230 couples, who were engaged or newlyweds at the time, and followed them for two years as they began their married life together. They all started the study with separate accounts and agreed to potentially change their financial arrangements. This was the first marriage for everyone involved in the study.

Then some couples were randomly assigned to keep their separate bank accounts, and others were told to open a joint bank account. A third group was allowed to make the decision on their own.

Couples told to open joint bank accounts reported substantially higher relationship quality two years later than those who kept separate accounts, Olson said, adding that the merger promotes greater alignment and transparency of financial goals, and a communal understanding of marriage.

“A communal relationship is one in which partners respond to each other’s needs because there is a need. ‘I want to help you because you need it. I’m not aware of it,'” he said. “There is an ‘us’ perspective, which we theorize would be related to a joint bank account.”

Olson said couples with separate accounts viewed financial decision-making more as an exchange.

“It’s ‘I help you because you’re going to help me later,'” he said. “They’re paying upfront for later favors, and that’s tit-for-tat, which we see a bit more with separate accounts. It’s ‘I have the Netflix bill and you pay the doctor.’ … They’re not working together like joint account holders, who have the same amount of money, and that’s more common in business-type relationships.”

With separate accounts, those who are married may find it easier to leave the relationship, Olson said. Twenty percent of participating couples did not finish the study, including a significant percentage of those who broke up after failing to merge bank accounts. They found no gender differences in the results.

The mean age of the participants was 28 years. Three quarters were white and 12 percent were black. Thirty-six percent had a bachelor’s degree and a median household income of $50,000. The couples had known each other for an average of five years and had been romantically involved for an average of three years. Ten percent had children.

Other study authors include Scott I. Rick, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business; Deborah A. Small, Adrian C. Israel Professor of Marketing at the Yale School of Management; and Eli J. Finkel, professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School of Management and professor of psychology at Northwestern.