Is money the last taboo?

Nearly nine out of ten of us keep our salary a secret from our friends and two out of three of us don’t even tell our families how much we get paid, according to research by Scottish Widows.

It seems that money is fast becoming the nation’s most uncomfortable topic, with nearly one in ten of us refusing to tell anybody at all how much we earn. The survey also reveals that couples are happier discussing health issues than they are discussing money – nearly one in five people are uncomfortable discussing salary, savings, and investments with their partner, and avoid it if possible. Similarly, three quarters of people admit to feeling uncomfortable discussing money issues with friends, and are twice as happy to talk about relationship worries and health problems.

Work is the one place where most of us are actively discouraged from talking about how much we’re getting paid, yet the study shows that men are almost twice as likely to share salary secrets with their colleagues than they are with their mates – one in five men will happily disclose their salary to people they work with.

The survey also reveals that more than a third of us do not know exactly how much our partner earns and can only give a rough estimate – with five per cent of couples unable to give even a ball-park figure.

Overall, the South of England (excluding London) is the tightest-lipped about money, with 70 per cent keeping their salary a secret from family and 88 per cent refusing to tell their friends what they earn. Londoners are the most relaxed in the UK, with 59 per cent happy to tell their relatives what they earn and a quarter discussing wages with mates.

Mike Hoban, Customer & Brand Marketing Director of Scottish Widows, says: “As a nation, we’ve become increasingly liberal - we are happy to talk to our loved ones about sex, relationships and health problems, but despite this modern trend in honesty it seems that money is now the topic we avoid. It’s no surprise that the nation is under-saving and under-preparing for the future when money is clearly such an uncomfortable subject. If you really can’t face discussing money with people you know, it might be a good idea to seek professional financial advice.”