Is the frequency of theft among Australian lovers innocent or are they just less honest?

Cheeky habit costing couples

If you've noticed your cash supplies are dwindling the reason may be very close to home.

Nearly 20 per cent of young Australian couples under 30 admit to pinching money from their partner's wallet without asking.

The casual thievery extends to the slightly older millennial demographic, according to research conducted by Canstar, with 18 per cent of people aged between 30 and 39 also admitting to having sticky fingers.

Just 8 per cent of Gen Xers say they pinch money from their significant other as the rate slows sharply in Aussie couples over the age of 40, while the overall figure across the ages is 10 per cent of people dipping into their partner's wallet.


bad partners.JPG
bad partners.JPG

Canstar group executive of financial services Steve Mickenbecker said he was "surprised" by the frequency of thieving younger couples but focused on the positives in the data.

"It says basically, more or less, 90 per cent of people are respecting their partner's property and keeping their hands off it," he told

"The fact that it drops off later on is really quite interesting, when you get to people over the age of 40 it becomes quite rare."

Mr Mickenbecker said this could be due to couples enforcing greater discipline and respect with one another as they get older, or could simply point to a change in spending habits.

He says the increasingly cashless economy meant younger Australians could be caught without physical money more often.

A 2018 consumer pulse report, also by Canstar, found nearly half of Australians expect the economy to go cashless with the vast majority of transactions being on cards within the next five years.

That figure jumps up 10 per cent according to adults aged under 30, with more than one in three Aussies under 40 believing Australia will be cashless within two years.

"If you talk to most 18 to 29-year-olds, they'll actually say they never use cash and don't carry cash anymore," Mr Mickenbecker said.

Because they carry cash less, when they do race to the corner to buy milk or a coffee, he says they may be rushed into dipping into their partner's finances.

"It's surprising that they're the most likely to jump into a partner's wallet or a coin jar, so it could be because they don't actually carry cash.

"You do still occasionally get a shock when you're in a cafe or similar and they don't take the credit card.

"Overall, the thing I'd say is that we are respecting our partner's cash as theirs, because 90 per cent of people (on average) are not doing this.

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