Too broke to break up?

• One in five young UK adults (18-40) have delayed a breakup to make the cost of living more affordable
• Lifetime ISA provider OneFamily says that the secret cost of being single – or “singles tax”- is a huge factor when it comes to financial security
• As recent government data shows electricity prices increased by 4.5% in the 12 months to June 2025 and average UK private rents rose by 7% in the 12 months to May 2025, it’s no surprise over two fifths of singletons (44%) say the cost of bills is one of their biggest financial challenges
• 36-year-old Chris Singleton now lives with his girlfriend Emma, but says previously renting alone as a single person forced him into debt.

It’s not romance keeping people together, it’s rising living costs, with one in five (21%) young adults in the UK (aged 18-40) admitting they’ve stayed with a partner to make the cost of living more affordable.

Lifetime ISA provider, OneFamily, has found there is a secret cost to being single – also known as “the singles tax”. Surveying 3,000 18 to 40s, the finance company’s research suggests that the financial impact of a breakup can be just as difficult as the emotional one, as relationship status is a huge factor when it comes to financial security. Three out of ten (29%) single people do not have an emergency fund, compared to less than one in six (16%) people in a relationship.

CEO, Jim Islam says, “These stats are shocking, people are potentially staying in unhappy relationships because the bills are too high to contemplate managing on their own.  It’s a tax on being single, made worse by the rising costs of bills.”

As recent government data shows electricity prices increased by 4.5% in the 12 months to June this year and average UK private rents rose by 7% in the same amount of time to May, it’s no surprise almost half of singletons say the cost of bills is their biggest financial challenge.

36-year-old Chris Singleton runs a not-for-profit theatre company and lives in Leeds with his partner Emma, their two guinea pigs Pancake and Waffle and their dog Indi. Having previously rented by himself from August 2021 to earlier this year, Chris says that living on his own forced him to eat through his savings and rack up debt.

Chris said: “In this period, I never had a spare pound, I spent everything I had every single month and built up a lot of credit card debt. I’m still repairing the damage now. I was spending about £1,000 a month on rent and bills when I lived by myself. But since Em and I moved in together five months ago, I now pay around £600-£700 all in, so I have at least an extra £300 every month which makes a big difference.”

“I used to worry a lot about where the money would come from if unexpected bills cropped up. I’d never be able to afford the cost of taking my car to the garage and I’d always have to put it on my credit card, which forced me into debt. Now I don’t have to worry about where the money will come from.”

The financial inequality between being single versus being in a relationship affects savings too, as singletons manage to put £301 away each month – roughly half the amount of those in relationships.

Chris added: “By myself, I couldn’t save anything at all and whenever I tried, I’d just dip back into my savings to pay for the cost of living. But now we’re both contributing to our savings pot, it’s a shared thing. At the moment our priority is saving to travel. Our next holiday is in September this year and we’re also hoping to buy an old van to convert it.”

Jim Islam, adds,  “Chris’s experience is not unusual, coming out of a relationship is a tough enough time without having to worry about money – and clearly it had a massive impact on his savings.

“The ‘single’s tax’ is daunting and our research suggests it is impacting people’s behaviours and relationship choices. But financial independence is crucial, since it enables freedom.  It needs to be something that is talked about in schools alongside good savings habits.

“Because building a savings pot absolutely supports financial resilience, which means less vulnerability to the ups and downs of life.”