[lazypenguin]

Not only incentives but it just makes sense logically as long as we can assume that both partners are financial savvy, have the same objectives and "contribute" to the relationship equally in some fashion (e.g. money, time, chores, etc.).

Two working couples:

- Two incomes

- Shared health plan (more expensive but less than 2x single?)

- Shared apartment (more expensive to support two occupants but less than 2x single?)

- Opportunities to reduce duplicated expenses when possible: e.g. single set of furniture, single car, joint loans (e.g. mortgage + closing costs), repairs, etc.

If one of the partners is not working I believe there are still advantages but they might be harder to quantify. Even if it means cutting out one of the incomes, having a time-available partner can be advantageous in other ways. Time to cook vs. eat out (more cost effective), organize bills, find discounts and deals (e.g. credit card churning for saving ~1k-2k a year on flights), organizing activities to maintain health, arrange doctor visits for preventative care, etc.

Obviously, this equation changes when one is a dependent but if both are independent and work together I feel that the math would favor couples.