Dating advice from the Federal Reserve
October 6, 2015 1:49 PM Subscribe
Good credit scores predict long-term relationship success:
People with higher credit scores are more likely to form committed relationships and marriages and then stay in them. In addition, how well matched the couple's credit scores are initially is a good predictor of whether they stay together in the long term.Original paper.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Yeah, I tend to agree that this is a pretty dire kind of prediction that needs more qualification, and it's framed (by the Post) in a clickbaity way that seems kind of irresponsible. -- LobsterMitten
Yeah yeah yeah, the most important thing in life is credit and poor people suck. We get it.
posted by all about eevee at 2:00 PM on October 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by all about eevee at 2:00 PM on October 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
Jokes on them, I'm still comfortably married to video games.
posted by Slackermagee at 2:00 PM on October 6, 2015
posted by Slackermagee at 2:00 PM on October 6, 2015
It surely couldn't be that both are basically measures of social stability, which is under individuals' control in widely varying degrees.
posted by PMdixon at 2:03 PM on October 6, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by PMdixon at 2:03 PM on October 6, 2015 [9 favorites]
Wait, people with money and resources have better life outcomes? I'm shocked! Shocked!
posted by corb at 2:10 PM on October 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by corb at 2:10 PM on October 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
I am not going to read the whole paper, and I couldn't tell this from the abstract, but: Do they correct for income level?
Because it's a very different thing to be poor with a bad credit score than to be middle-class or above with a bad credit score.
Poor people often get stuck in the fuck barrel for reasons that aren't really anywhere near as controllable as for middle-class folks who just can't be bothered to get their financial house in order.
I mean -- you can be poor and have excellent credit but that takes discipline and smarts (and probably some luck). But then there's the sorts of folks making the median salary for their area who buy boats on credit cards. I can totally see why the latter type of person could be a boner killer.
posted by sparklemotion at 2:13 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
Because it's a very different thing to be poor with a bad credit score than to be middle-class or above with a bad credit score.
Poor people often get stuck in the fuck barrel for reasons that aren't really anywhere near as controllable as for middle-class folks who just can't be bothered to get their financial house in order.
I mean -- you can be poor and have excellent credit but that takes discipline and smarts (and probably some luck). But then there's the sorts of folks making the median salary for their area who buy boats on credit cards. I can totally see why the latter type of person could be a boner killer.
posted by sparklemotion at 2:13 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
I am not going to read the whole paper, and I couldn't tell this from the abstract, but: Do they correct for income level?
From the WP article:
From the WP article:
This was true even after controlling for other differences between partners, like education level, race or income.posted by clawsoon at 2:16 PM on October 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
I had a guy tell me once during a particularly ugly breakup that he'd lied to me about seeing a future with me, and that in truth he never even wanted to be in a committed relationship with me, largely in part because my credit isn't good enough to buy a house. Still a little gobsmacked over that one... it really sucks to be told that you're basically worthless by someone who once abandoned a spouse when they got pregnant because he didn't want the responsibility of a child but couldn't bother wearing a condom.
I haven't really been in a relationship since, and I'm so looking forward to the many people rushing in here to crow about how glad they are to have avoided being stuck with shitty, terrible people like me who have committed the terrible, unthinkable crime of having a credit rating lower than 800. I love knowing that I'm unworthy of love based on a number generated by corporations based on my spending habits. So awesome.
posted by palomar at 2:16 PM on October 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
I haven't really been in a relationship since, and I'm so looking forward to the many people rushing in here to crow about how glad they are to have avoided being stuck with shitty, terrible people like me who have committed the terrible, unthinkable crime of having a credit rating lower than 800. I love knowing that I'm unworthy of love based on a number generated by corporations based on my spending habits. So awesome.
posted by palomar at 2:16 PM on October 6, 2015 [4 favorites]
Funny, my boat is named Boner Killer but you must understand, it's a whaling vessel and "Boner" is the name of the white whale who destroyed my last ship and severed my leg at the knee.
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:19 PM on October 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:19 PM on October 6, 2015 [5 favorites]
I am not going to read the whole paper, and I couldn't tell this from the abstract, but: Do they correct for income level?
Yes, albeit indirectly (inferring it based on various things that they can get in their data).
The quoted abstract makes it clear-ish that
(1) They're not claiming causality here (basically there's a lot of detailed correlations and comparisons to other external measures) and
(2) Part of this is not just "high credit score, successfully relationship" but "people with similar credit scores have longer lasting relationships and tend to converge."
posted by dismas at 2:22 PM on October 6, 2015
Yes, albeit indirectly (inferring it based on various things that they can get in their data).
The quoted abstract makes it clear-ish that
(1) They're not claiming causality here (basically there's a lot of detailed correlations and comparisons to other external measures) and
(2) Part of this is not just "high credit score, successfully relationship" but "people with similar credit scores have longer lasting relationships and tend to converge."
posted by dismas at 2:22 PM on October 6, 2015
(Who knows, though... my credit score has improved now that I'm about $14,000 in debt for school loans. Seems odd to me that someone might consider me a better partner now that I'm saddled with crippling debt, instead of before when I had literally no debt but a low credit score because of it. Oh well. Maybe I'm better off alone instead of being with the kind of jerk that rates a person's worth on a number.)
posted by palomar at 2:22 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by palomar at 2:22 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
"The one number that’s eerily good at predicting your success in love." I like how The Washington Post is slowly metamorphosing into a new, all-clickbait form of journalism. I have to believe they did split testing on these alternate headlines:
"You and me and this numerical expression based on analysis of your credit files make three"
"You won't believe what Dokko et al. had to say about the role of credit scores in the dynamics of committed relationships"
"They controlled for several socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. What they didn't control for shocked them."
"One weird trick credit agencies have for destroying your life"
posted by compartment at 2:23 PM on October 6, 2015 [8 favorites]
"You and me and this numerical expression based on analysis of your credit files make three"
"You won't believe what Dokko et al. had to say about the role of credit scores in the dynamics of committed relationships"
"They controlled for several socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. What they didn't control for shocked them."
"One weird trick credit agencies have for destroying your life"
posted by compartment at 2:23 PM on October 6, 2015 [8 favorites]
This post is making a lot of people feel bad unnecessarily. I think it's a misinterpretation to connect "unworthy of love" with "low credit score," at least according to what the study is purporting to do.
posted by Karaage at 2:27 PM on October 6, 2015
posted by Karaage at 2:27 PM on October 6, 2015
palomar, that's the clincher. Crippling debt, living in a dumpster but paying your loan back regularly = good credit rating. Paid cash for your third vacation home and the Lambo to take you there = your credit rating sucks.
posted by oheso at 2:27 PM on October 6, 2015
posted by oheso at 2:27 PM on October 6, 2015
Top 23 Bullshit Numbers That Rule Your Life. #17 will shock you.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 2:29 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 2:29 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
Those of us who pay with cash and actually own things outright can have a pretty bad credit score, mine for the longest time was zero. Credit score is based on how much debt you have and making on time payments. It's not based on net worth.
posted by HappyHippo at 2:29 PM on October 6, 2015
posted by HappyHippo at 2:29 PM on October 6, 2015
So basically, look for people who pay their debts and don't make risky investments. I guess those are traits that appear at any income level and class.
posted by Apocryphon at 2:29 PM on October 6, 2015
posted by Apocryphon at 2:29 PM on October 6, 2015
My credit score is good in part because of student loans paid back with my wife's inherited money, so it's nice to know I'm maximizing my ability to trade up.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 2:30 PM on October 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 2:30 PM on October 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yeah, it is totally nuts to base anything off of your credit rating except for the thing it was designed to measure: how likely lending institutions are to make money off of you, yet here we are, living in a totally nuts world.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 2:31 PM on October 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 2:31 PM on October 6, 2015 [2 favorites]
...how glad they are to have avoided being stuck with shitty, terrible people like me who have committed the terrible, unthinkable crime of having a credit rating lower than 800.
The paper says that the sweet spot is 750-800 for singles; singles over 800 have slightly lower odds of finding a partner.
A college degree also slightly lowers the chance of finding a partner and having a stable relationship. So: Blue collar, high income, credit score between 750-800. That's the ticket.
posted by clawsoon at 2:31 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
The paper says that the sweet spot is 750-800 for singles; singles over 800 have slightly lower odds of finding a partner.
A college degree also slightly lowers the chance of finding a partner and having a stable relationship. So: Blue collar, high income, credit score between 750-800. That's the ticket.
posted by clawsoon at 2:31 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
what is up with this topic any more
posted by boo_radley at 2:32 PM on October 6, 2015
posted by boo_radley at 2:32 PM on October 6, 2015
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I feel so vindicated.
posted by phunniemee at 1:51 PM on October 6, 2015 [1 favorite]