Confused.com, the leading price comparison website, has revealed that love could be one of the biggest losers of the recession as bailing out one’s partner or spouse is the most resented expenditure among the nation’s adults.

From picking up the tab for a partner at a restaurant to covering their cost of a taxi, it seems couples up and down the country hate putting their hand into their pocket to help out their other half.

The UK economy is currently stuck in recession after contracting for nine months in a row. Confirming that love in Britain could be well and truly on the rocks as a result of the flagging economy, people’s own wedding costs, such as hiring a venue and even paying for the bride’s dress, came in second place in the study. Buying presents for other people’s weddings followed closely behind, coming third in the list of life’s most hated expenses.

Meanwhile, as people’s spending power struggles to pick up, it seems many adults are tightening their belts, with the fourth most resented expense in the poll being contraception.

For many Brits, having to fork out on common expenses such as utility bills (7th), car insurance (9th) and dentistry (10th) is less of a resent than helping out their loved one. Showing just how bad things may have got, some of the expenses that didn’t make the top 10 but still fared better than a partner or spouse include; contributing to a work colleague’s birthday collection (14th), paying a compulsory charge for shopping bags in some UK supermarkets (15th), buying petrol (16th) and being charged road bridge tolls (19th).

The survey showed the South West could be the least romantic region in Britain, with 20% of people polled from this part of the country giving their partner top marks on the “Moan-o-meter”. Meanwhile, it seems love isn’t quite dead in Wales as people from the region proved they were the most happy to splash out on their spouse – just 10% were worked up enough about this to give it the top score.

Looking at the results, Confused.com added all the average scores from each of the regions together to work out who hates spending their cash the most. The results break the stereotype of a person from Yorkshire being tight with money, with the poll showing people from the region are most happy to put their hand in their pocket when it comes to some of life’s common expenses. On the other hand, people in the South West could be the tightest in Britain when it comes to spending their hard-earned cash.

Nerys Lewis, money expert at Confused.com, said: “Forget ‘for richer, for poorer’. It seems when times are tight many Brits are simply saying “I don’t” when it comes to bailing out their better half.

“However, while it seems like romance could be in recession, many adults could be realising that love doesn’t have to cost a thing – instead choosing to romance their partner for free with a good old fashioned stroll in the park, for example, or cooking a meal rather than eating out.

“What’s more, we feel many people are simply getting smarter about how they spend their cash making traditional money gripes such as car insurance and utility bills less of a bother as people shop around to get the best deals.”

Via EPR Network
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