{"id":5623,"date":"2026-08-20T08:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T08:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5623"},"modified":"2026-08-20T08:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T08:37:15","slug":"in-this-economy-millennials-and-gen-z-would-rather-break-up-than-date-someone-in-debt-theres-a-pretty-big-divide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5623","title":{"rendered":"In this economy, millennials and Gen Z would rather break up than date someone in debt: \u2018There\u2019s a pretty big divide\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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That reversal runs counter to the usual assumption that younger generations are more relaxed, more collaborative, and less judgmental about money than their parents were. Ashley Weeks, a wealth strategist at TD Bank who works directly with clients on the survey\u2019s findings, said the shift reflects economic conditions rather than a change in values.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s a pretty big divide between Gen X and Boomer responses versus Millennials and Gen Z,\u201d Weeks told Fortune<\/em>. \u201cWhat we take from that is likely these are just a response to the existing stimuli that are out there in the economic space.\u201d That includes things like student debt, inflation, and housing costs that have made personal finance inseparable from other parts of younger people\u2019s lives, including who they choose to date.<\/p>\n

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Weeks said he sees the pattern firsthand. TD Wealth advisors often meet separately with older and younger generations within the same family, and the conversations diverge sharply. \u201cThe conversation for younger individuals does seem to focus more around the fact that someone\u2019s ability to survive and be financially independent is an important factor now when evaluating the long-term prospects for a relationship,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

He added that older relatives don\u2019t always grasp the pressure younger people are under: \u201cSometimes senior generations\u2014it seems like parents or grandparents\u2014fail to grasp what the younger generations are going through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prenups go from taboo to standard practice<\/h2>\n

More than half of respondents nationally (54%) said they would consider signing a prenuptial agreement, a number well above what prenups have historically polled at. Weeks attributed the shift to generational exposure to divorce. \u201cPeople have seen their parents, and maybe their grandparents, go through a divorce, and the situation might not have transpired in a way that a younger generation thought was equitable,\u201d he said. Weeks noted this dovetails with broader coverage of the trend\u2014millennial and Gen Z women in particular have driven a cultural shift toward treating prenups as a wealth-planning tool rather than a sign of distrust.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy at least considering it, that\u2019s one way you can create your own rules,\u201d Weeks said. \u201cVersus essentially having to live with the default rules in the state you happen to be living.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Anecdotally, he said, clients who go through the process of drafting a prenup seem less likely to divorce. \u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s because they have the communication skills on the front end to actually have that conversation,\u201d he said. \u201cThat portends a healthy relationship, but that\u2019s what I\u2019ve observed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miami feels the most pressure to keep up appearances<\/h2>\n

The survey oversampled six metro areas\u2014New York, Boston, Miami, Philadelphia, Charlotte and Washington, D.C.\u2014and Miami stood out as the most financially anxious city surveyed. More than seven out of 10 (73%) of Miami respondents said they feel pressure at least sometimes to appear more financially successful in their personal lives, the highest share of any metro in the survey. Miami residents were also more likely than the national average to say they have at least one financial secret (65% vs. 56% nationally), and 58% said they\u2019re at least sometimes scared or embarrassed to discuss finances with a partner, compared with 48% nationally.<\/p>\n

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That pressure appears to be reshaping life decisions in Miami more than almost anywhere else surveyed. Eighty-two percent of Miami respondents said they\u2019ve delayed at least one major life milestone because of their finances, compared with 69% of New Yorkers. Miami residents were also considerably more likely to have received financial help from family\u201475%, compared with 59% in New York.<\/p>\n

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New York, notably, reported lower rates of financial secrecy and delayed milestones than Miami, but New Yorkers were still more likely than the general population to say they make financial decisions independently: 30% of New York respondents said they mostly make financial decisions on their own, compared with 21% nationally. More than half of New Yorkers (56%) said they\u2019d consider a prenup, in line with the national trend TD documented.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t think humans have changed,\u201d he said. \u201cI just think that the economic environment is such that that\u2019s the obvious thing to do when it takes so much to buy a house now, or to save up, or to get credit, or to pay off loans.\u201d He connected the dynamic to reporting on young adults increasingly relying on family for financial support and a labor force participation rate that has fallen to its lowest level in 50 years outside the pandemic\u2014both signs, he said, that the financial stakes of any given relationship are higher than they used to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re commingling finances with someone, their debts become your debts. Their spending habits you\u2019re largely tied to,\u201d Weeks said. \u201cI think it\u2019s an awareness of that. The fact that that is going to have a major impact over your relationship satisfaction and your life satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Financial secrecy is widespread and hard to explain<\/h2>\n

Nationally, 30% of respondents admitted to hiding a purchase or financial decision from a partner or family member, and 11% said they keep a bank account hidden entirely from the people closest to them \u2014 a number that stood out to Weeks. \u201cThat takes some level of subterfuge to, especially if you\u2019re married and filing a joint tax return,\u201d he said. \u201cThat level of deviance. That one did stand out and surprise me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weeks said credit card debt, gambling and bad credit scores were the most common things people admitted hiding from partners, and attributed the pattern to a fear of judgment rather than deliberate deception. \u201cThere are concerns about sharing with a family member about spending habits, and obviously there are issues with communication, where people feel like if they\u2019re upfront about what they\u2019ve done, there\u2019s going to be some judgment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Support flows both ways<\/h2>\n

The survey also found that financial help within families isn\u2019t one-directional. Roughly two-thirds of respondents said they\u2019ve received financial assistance from family or someone close to them, and about 70% said they\u2019ve given it\u2014evidence, Weeks said, that money moves across generations rather than strictly downward from parents to children. \u201cAs people grow and as they age, they both receive help, and then when they\u2019re in a position to give it, the data suggests that a vast majority do,\u201d he said, pointing to examples ranging from parents funding a down payment to something as small as keeping an adult child on a family phone plan. About a third of respondents identified as part of the \u201csandwich generation,\u201d supporting both children and aging relatives at the same time.<\/p>\n

Overall, the data seems pretty spot on with current events. \u201cI think that these are typically rational considerations, given that the stakes are so high financially.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nearly half of Americans say a partner’s debt is a dealbreaker, and younger generations are the pickiest of all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[580],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-finance-evergreen"],"yoast_head":"\nIn this economy, millennials and Gen Z would rather break up than date someone in debt: \u2018There\u2019s a pretty big divide\u2019 - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5623\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In this economy, millennials and Gen Z would rather break up than date someone in debt: \u2018There\u2019s a pretty big divide\u2019 - 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