Millennials More Likely to Share Salary Details

Working millennials are much more likely than their older cohorts to share compensation information with others, a recent workplace survey has found.

A Bankrate survey revealed that 58 percent of millennials have told friends about their salaries, while the figures are 33 percent for boomers and 42 percent for Gen Xers. The rates are higher for sharing with spouses or other live-in partners. As for coworkers, although the rates are lower, millennials are still almost twice as likely as boomers to talk about how much they make: 33 percent versus 18 percent.

Some observers attribute the relative willingness to share salary information to the open lives that millennials are known to lead.

“They’re posting pictures of what type of car they drive, where they go on vacation and so on and so forth,” Ricardo Perez-Truglia, an economics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Bankrate. “Given that you’re already revealing all of that, I think that revealing what your salary is may not seem like a big deal.”

Where to draw the line on sharing is different for each person, though in the case of couples, the practical side of money may be an issue. As you set household financial goals with a significant other, “it’s impossible to be on the same page if you’re not open and honest about how much money is coming in,” Bankrate analyst Amanda Dixon said.

Other findings:

• Those in high-income households are more likely to disclose their salaries.
• Men are slightly more likely than women to share their wage information with coworkers: 29 percent versus 20 percent.