In the SIPP, a “householder” is a person in a household who owns or rents the housing unit and is named on the deed or lease.

SIPP is a nationally representative, longitudinal survey that tracks income, employment, household composition and government program participation.

Among couples with joint accounts, a growing share also used individual accounts.

In 1996, just over half (53%) of couples held all their bank accounts jointly, compared to only 40% in 2023.

During the same period, the share of couples with both joint and separate accounts rose from 9% to 17%.

Couples with a mix of joint and solo accounts made up about half (49%) of all joint account holders in 2023, up from 37% in 1996.

Marrying later – when finances are already established – may explain why fewer couples are merging accounts.

In 1996, the median age at first marriage was 24.8 years for women and 27.1 years for men. By 2023, these ages had climbed to 28.4 and 30.2 years, respectively, according to the Current Population Survey.

Individual bank accounts were more common among couples who married later (Figure 2). 

Among opposite-sex married couples, 29% of women who married between ages 30 and 34 held all bank accounts jointly. The rate jumped to 47% when married between ages 20 and 24 (Figure 2).

Couples may also start out with separate finances and open joint accounts over time, especially after having children.

The longer a couple was married, the more likely they were to share bank accounts. In 2023, 79% of couples married for nine to 13 years held bank accounts jointly, compared to 68% of couples married between four and eight years (Figure 3).

This difference mirrored the gap between opposite-sex married couples with and without children: 75% of those with minor children in the household had a joint account compared to 64% of couples (of child-bearing age) living without children.

Divorcees who remarried were somewhat less likely to own joint bank accounts with their new spouse than spouses who never divorced (73% and 79%, respectively).

Joint accounts were more common among married couples than among unmarried couples who lived together. In 2023, only 16% of unmarried householder couples had joint accounts; the rate was somewhat higher (25%) among unmarried couples who lived with minor children.

For technical documentation and more information about SIPP data quality, visit the survey’s Technical Documentation webpage.