Readers have been alerting me to the new UK study that calculated the extra money it costs to live solo compared to living as a couple. I’ll get to that topic in a later post. As is my custom, I went to the original report to see what it actually did say, and discovered some other findings that surprised and impressed me. So far as I can tell, they have not made it into the media.
The UK has what’s called a “council tax,” which seems to correspond roughly to the U.S. property tax. Guess what? People who live alone get a 25% reduction in that tax! Survey respondents were asked, “Do you think the current council tax reduction of 25% is enough for people who live alone?” I guess it is not too surprising that 78% of singles think that’s not enough of a tax break. But 41% of couples agree!
The “single supplement,” that added charge singles often pay for hotel rooms and cruises, is not unique to the U.S. The UK respondents were asked, “Do you think these single person supplements are unfair?” 86% of single people said that they were. But so did 67% of people living with a partner!
Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised and couples in the US would be just as magnanimous toward singles as the UK couples are. It would be interesting to find out.
