My husband refuses to split a Spotify Duo package with me. It’s a major pain point in our relationship (for me, anyway). His reasoning for denying both of us the cost-saving is simple: he’s already on a family plan, covered entirely by his parents. As a result, I continue to shoulder the sole cost of my Spotify premium, missing out on a lovely monthly saving. He skates on by with no ads between his albums and no cost.
This, in my opinion, is an ick. In our thirties, shouldn’t we have broken free of any financial ties to our parents? Isn’t it embarrassing to let your parents pick up the cost of something you could easily afford?
I haven’t got a leg to stand on, really. I was only able to afford my half of our house deposit because both my parents and my grandparents very generously chipped in, while my husband raised his half entirely through hard graft and savvy spending. If anyone should have the ick, it’s him.
We’re far from alone in disagreeing on this particular topic. For many couples, differences in parental wealth can cause tension.
For Priya*, 34, from Leeds, there’s resentment bubbling under the surface. For the first eight years of her and her partner’s decade-long relationship, she had no idea how much her boyfriend’s parents were contributing to his life. It was only when they decided to buy a house together last year that she discovered the truth. “I was really confused by how much he had saved – he was so relaxed about the deposit, and when I pressed him it was because he had more than £50,000 in his account. His parents had been covering part of his rent, along with his phone bill and other stuff, for years so he was able to save a huge amount of what he earned.”
