Money usurps politics as greatest taboo conversation topic

In the wake of election and pre-Budget fever, a new study by leading independent personal finance website Fool.co.uk reveals that despite politics being a long-established taboo subject, 12 million (28%) of Brits prefer talking about the subject than money.

It seems the credit generation’s debt problems have propelled personal finance, not politics, to the top of the ‘social taboo’ conversation list, with two-thirds (66%) of Brits feeling money is a personal subject that should be kept private.

Fool.co.uk’s research highlights how open Brits are about chatting about their cash and reveals that as well as politics, religious beliefs (20%), career concerns (20%) and even relationship problems (12%) are more favoured topics of conversation than money.

David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk, says: “This really shows the lengths that we’ll go to in order to avoid discussing money if we’d rather talk politics than our finances!

“As the old saying goes – a problem shared is a problem halved. By not talking about our finances, we’re bottling up all those money worries and debt concerns, and this isn’t doing us any good as a nation.

“If we were more open with our partners, parents and friends about money then we’d realise that talking about our finances can help save us cash and ease the pressure of certain financial situations.

“At Fool.co.uk we encourage everyone to talk about money – we think the country would be better off for it!”

Generation divide

Over a third (34%) of over 65s would choose to talk about politics, making them the most likely age group to opt for talking about the subject over money. Conversely, only 27% of 18-24s would choose to chat politics, with almost half (43%) rather discussing their career concerns. Sex is also on the minds of the younger generation, with one in ten (11%) rather talking about their sexual past than their finances. It seems that embarrassing health problems are also a more favoured topic of conversation than money for the 18-24’s, with a quarter (26%) choosing this conversation topic over money.

Capital conversations

London is the most politically conversational region, with over a third (37%) of Londoners choosing to talk about politics over money. The Scots are the least likely to talk politics, with only 15% claiming they’d prefer to talk about the subject over money.

The Welsh are the most likely to chat about their sex lives – over one in ten (13%) claim they’d prefer talking about sex than money.