There Is a Serious Mooching Issue Going on With Netflix — And How That Affects You
Oh the times, they are a changing. It used to be all about stealing your parents’ or, if you were really lucky, a friend’s HBO GO password. Heck, if your S.O. gave you his HBO GO password, you’d know a proposal couldn’t be far off. A whopping 51 percent of the population believes that sharing a Netflix account is an indicator of a serious relationship. With the rise in popularity of their original shows like House of Cards, Fuller House, Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, having access to Netflix is a coveted item. Everyone wants to Netflix and chill — they just aren’t willing to pay for it. As a result, it seems there is some serious Netflix mooching going on.
A survey conducted by Survata for Quartzof 2,255 people in the US in January asked whether they paid for a Netflix subscription. FYI, Netflix subscriptions allow for you and one other person to use the same password and login for $8 per month, or for up to four people to stream on one account at the same time for $12 per month. Survata found that 31 percent of Americans who have access to a Netflix subscription do not actually pay for it. Young people are the biggest moocher culprits, with 69 percent of people in the 13 to 17 age group using someone else’s account, and half of 18- to 24-year-olds also in mooching mode. The survey also found that men tend to mooch more than women, with 37 percent of them not paying versus only 27 percent of women getting free access.
Though this does seem like a lot, no one seems too mad about it, including Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. In January he said, “We love people sharing Netflix,” Reed said. “That’s a positive thing, not a negative thing.” He continued, “As kids move on in their life, they like to have control of their life, and as they have an income, we see them separately subscribe,” Hastings said. “It really hasn’t been a problem.”
If they are cool with it, so are we. So share the love, people!
Do you use someone else’s Netflix password? Tell us @BritandCo!
(Photos via Netflix + Getty)