40% of Dual-Income Couples Have Secret Spending Experiences; Higher Amounts Lead to More Arguments. Couples Who Can Discuss Money with Partners Have 92% Relationship Satisfaction [Survey of 500 People]

Hajimari Inc. (Location: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Naoto Kimura), which operates Freelance Job, an IT project and job search site for freelance engineers, conducted a survey on "Financial Situations of Dual-Income Couples" targeting 500 married company employees aged 20s to 60s nationwide.

**Survey Summary**
* Approximately 47% of couples "do not know" each other's asset status.
* The number one cause of money-related arguments is "insufficient preparation for the future."
* Approximately 40% have "secret spending," with more women than men.
* Higher amounts of secret spending lead to more money-related arguments.
* Couples who can "discuss money" have 92% relationship satisfaction.

**Survey Overview**
* Survey Title: Household Financial Management Survey for Dual-Income Couples
* Survey Method: Internet survey (using QIQUMO)
* Survey Period: April 2026
* Valid Responses: 500 dual-income couples (20s-60s, 250 men, 250 women)

**Conditions for Using Survey Results**
1. Please feel free to use the survey results. However, please clearly state "Freelance Job" as the source of information.
2. When using on a website, please include the following link as the source:
URL: https://freelance-job.com/contents/news/research/2315

**How do you manage household finances?**
Regarding household financial management, 29% (145 people) of the total responded, "A fixed amount is deposited into a common account for savings and living expenses, and anything else is personal pocket money." This was followed by 26% (130 people) who said, "We decide who pays for each item." Only 17% (87 people) of dual-income couples fully adopt a pocket money system, indicating that most households keep their finances separate.

**Approximately half of couples "do not know" each other's asset status.**
When asked if they knew each other's asset status, such as savings and investment situations, 53.2% (266 people) answered "yes," and 46.8% (234 people) answered "no." This reveals that approximately half of dual-income couples do not grasp their partner's specific asset amount.

**63% of partners "can discuss money," 37% "cannot."**
62.8% (314 people) of the total responded that they "can discuss" money-related topics (household finances, future plans, income/expenditure, etc.) with their partners.

**Approximately half have experienced arguments over money usage.**
Regarding arguments over money usage, 7.8% (39 people) responded "frequently," and 41.0% (205 people) responded "occasionally," meaning approximately half have experienced arguments. 51.2% (256 people) responded "never."

**The overwhelming top cause of arguments is "insufficient preparation for the future (asset building)."**
As for the cause of arguments, "insufficient preparation for the future (asset building)" was overwhelmingly the most common, with 205 respondents. This is more than double the number of responses for the second place, "extreme frugality (stinginess)" (90 people), and third place, "excessive spending" (87 people).

This indicates that anxieties about the future, rather than dissatisfaction with current situations or individual personalities, are the primary factor in arguments.

**Secret spending to partners: 41.6% for women, 36.8% for men.**
39.2% of the total responded that they had made a secret purchase of 30,000 yen or more from their partner in the past year. By gender, 36.8% of men and 41.6% of women had such experiences, revealing that women are more likely to have secret spending experiences. The most common amount for secret spending was 50,000 to 70,000 yen (60 people), and 23 people had secretly spent 500,000 yen or more.

**Secret spending increases money-related arguments.**
An analysis of the presence of secret spending and the frequency of arguments showed a difference between those with and without secret spending.

Among those without secret spending, 76.58% responded that they "never" argue, while among those with secret spending, over 80% responded that they argue "occasionally" or "frequently."

Particularly when the amount of secret spending reached "500,000 yen or more," the percentage of those who responded "frequently" argue rose to 43%.

**Couples who can discuss money have 92% relationship satisfaction.**
A strong correlation was also observed between the ability to discuss money with a partner and satisfaction with the partner. Among those who responded that they "can discuss" money, relationship satisfaction (total of "satisfied" and "somewhat satisfied") reached 92%. In contrast, relationship satisfaction among those who responded that they "cannot discuss" money remained at 62%, showing a significant difference.

**Comments**
This survey revealed that among dual-income households, "insufficient preparation for the future" is a major cause of conflict between couples, more so than superficial issues like individual personalities or excessive spending.

Furthermore, couples who can discuss money with their partners...