Parents care how much their daughter’s boyfriend makes. Or, more to the point, they care that he makes enough so that they won’t have to care.
According to a study published in Evolution and Human Behaviour, resources are a factor in how much parents approve of their daughter’s boyfriend, but only if they were planning on supporting that daughter anyway. Researchers constructed a computer model that simulated how parents support their offspring and tested a number of different attitudes. In some simulations, parents allocated resources equally amongst their children. In others, they provided more support to offspring that required more support.
It was in this second simulation that parents care how much their daughter’s boyfriend makes—particularly if they have multiple daughters.
So, what’s that mean for you? If you’re getting a lot of questions about your bank statement, your girlfriends parents might be worried about supporting the two of you after you tie the knot—especially if they already have one deadbeat son-in-law. Of course, even if they aren’t planning on supporting their daughter after marriage and don’t care about your salary, they can still find other ways to hate you. Trust us.
