Bank of Mum & Dad: I learned a new phrase from the Financial Times today ...

[wobbli]

“Assortative mating”: those in better-off families tend to marry partners from similar social circumstances. A Resolution Foundation report in 2017 found that adults under 50 who are in couples and have no expectations of inheritance tend to have partners with an average expected windfall of £25,000. But those who expect to inherit more than £500,000 have partners who are likely to receive an average legacy of £190,000.

Not new news, or surprising, but always good to have a label for things I suppose. 🙃

If you have an FT subscription, the article is: How the Bank of Mum and Dad reshaped the British economy - on.ft.com/4eSwBRR

But wouldn't that be part of the attraction to a partner having a similar attitude to money?

OK so we now have a name for a practice that's been common since Roman times. However did we survive without it????

I think a large part is people tend to socialise within similar socio-economic circles, which inceases the chances of meeting someone from a similar financial background.

It's not a phrase the FT has come up with, it's been used widely for a long time. It doesn't just apply to finances, people tend to partner up with people who have similar professions/ interests / levels of attractiveness

This phrase has been around for years. Is this some kind of weird spam for the FT?

Clearly not, as they reference it to a Resolution Foundation report from 2017.

I work in education and I see every year, students who don't know each other naturally gravitate to those with similar eccomics backgrounds.

Many subtle things people read about each other as well as what they say. I believe it's inherent and not deliberate but it's partly why I also feel this whole mixing each other up is a fallacy.

It's also cultural capital, it's easier to be with people whose culture capital matches your own unless your totally flexible which many are not.

For what's it's worth I've had bf from a staggering range of background and I ended up with someone more in the middle like me

Well obviously. It's part of the reason lower income groups are less likely to marry than the middle classes.

It might have been around for years in your circles, but not mine.

I'm not an economist. I subscribed to the FT because the BBC news app dumbed down, so perhaps I'm broadening my vocabulary.

Birds of a feather flock together

I’m not an economist and I don’t read the FT. Just saying it’s a very common term.

A quick google suggests its from evolutionary biology. I dropped biology at 14 and the last popular evolutionary biology book I read was probably 30 years ago.

Anyway, like I said, its always good to know the latest vocab, wherever you pick it up. 🙃

It’s not from biology!

How much you're going to inherit from your parents doesn't speak to your 'attitude to money', just how wealthy your parents are.

I can add to the number of people who haven't heard it before.

Perhaps it's just a common term in your social circle/area of interest.