Im still reeling, my whole life was flipped on its head, the 29-year-old says.
The only thing more humiliating than getting fired and packing up your adult existence into your teenage bedroom?
Seeing your best friend survive the same brutal layoff and emerge unscathed.
Its awkward to explain that to someone who has two incomes funding their vacation.
And this wealth difference, dubbed the singles tax, is onlywidening with inflation.
By 2019, the difference was nearly nine times.
FromSocial Security windfallstopotential tax breaksand beyond, its often simply more affordable to be one half of a pair.
She thought I hated her husband or was jealous, when thats far from it, she says.
The duo havent spoken since the argument.
Society often tends to look at singles with pity, as if theyve yet to fulfill an essential goal.
Addressing the singles tax effect on a friendship can be difficult.
Gaia*, 27, is single and works as an au pair.
She pays $3,100 for rent and utilities in Philadelphia every month.
The au pair often spends her weekends with her best friends, a couple who run a business together.
The trio met in college when they could afford the same restaurants and vacations.
Recently, however, Gaia finds it hard to keep up with their expensive tastes.
But when their evolving finances threatened these common threads, her friends responded by bridging the gap with money.
The singles tax also creates tension for partnered people.
This kind of secrecy can create tension, says Bayard Jackson.
For so long, people have been ashamed to talk about their financial situations.
*Name has been changed.
