Have you shared your salary information with a colleague? Romantic partner? Friend? Family member? You’re more likely to be a Millennial than a Baby Boomer, according to new research from Bankrate.
While about a quarter of all adults (24%) have revealed their income to a coworker, generational differences are significant, with 33% of Millennials (ages 18-37) saying they’ve done so, compared to only 18% of Baby Boomers.
The numbers are consistent across all audiences. Nearly half (48%) of Millennials have shared salary info with a non-live-in romantic partner, compared to 29% of Baby Boomers. Fifty-eight percent of Millennials have told a friend (compared to 33% of Boomers), and 64% of Millennials have told a family member other than a spouse, compared to 43% of Boomers.
“It’s not surprising that [Millennials] are more open to discussing salaries,” says Bankrate analyst Amanda Dixon. “When you think about how Millennials use social media, they’re so used to oversharing about anything and everything. It makes sense that they’re more open to talking about money and pay than their parents.”
Once you get past generational gaps, there’s still a significant percentage of all adults who remain mum about their salary numbers—even with loved ones. A full 31% of all adults have never told a live-in romantic partner how much money they make, and that includes 19% who are currently married or living with a partner.
“I think that’s concerning, because knowing where you stand financially is very important,” Dixon says. “You need to be on the same page when you’re trying to set financial goals, especially if you’re planning to take on a mortgage in the near future or finance a car.”
Dixon also found it noteworthy that there wasn’t a huge gap between men and women: Twenty-nine percent of men had talked about their pay with a coworker, compared to 20% of women.
“That was surprising to me, given all the talk about the gender pay gap and pay transparency,” Dixon says. “People seem to suggest that maybe part of the problem is that maybe women feel intimidated talking about salary and pay, but the data shows that it’s hard to say that. When it comes to the gender pay gap, a lot more has to be taken into account.”
Why is money still so hard to discuss? Many people still view it as a societal measure of their value. “Your salary does say a lot about how much you’re worth, especially in the eyes of your company, and relatively speaking, how you’re valued in the economy,” Dixon says. “So, it says a lot about you. It’s a very sensitive topic for people.”
In the end, though, being open about money can help everyone. “It’s important to have conversations about money and salaries, even if it does seem a little bit difficult,” Dixon says. “But at the same time, finding out that someone makes more than you doesn’t automatically mean they’re in a better financial situation. It really all comes down to how you’re managing the money that you’re making at the end of the day.”
