Resources and decision-making

Barrett and McIntosh (1991) - husbands giving money to wives

• Women unequally compensated for unpaid work by their husbands

  • Any financial support men give to their wives is unpredictable and has strings attached

Barrett and McIntosh (1991) - decisions about spending

• Men make major decisions about spending

  • Shows that men use finances to monopolise their wives and exercise decision-making powers

Kempson (1994) - low-income families and choices on spending

• In low-income families, the first ‘luxuries’ to go were woman’s needs such as leisure time and food

• Shows that resources are concentrated on the man and children as the woman has no entitlement to a share of household resources despite all the unpaid work she does

Pahl and Vogel (2007) - pooling

• Both partners have access to income and joint responsibility for expenditure

  • Despite pooled incomes, husband controls family finances (not quite as much as allowance system) and major decisions

Pahl and Vogel (2007) - allowance system

• Men give their wives an allowance which they have to spend on family needs, whereas men spend surplus income on themselves

  • Men have majority of control over financial decisions

Laurie and Gershuny — % of couples that said they had an equal say in decisions by 1995 + factor in this

• 70%

  • The higher qualified and earning the women were, the more of a say they had in decisions

Hardill (1997)

• Most important decisions taken by the man alone or jointly

• Man’s career takes priority when considering moving

Finch (1983)

• Women’s lives tend to be structured around husband’s careers

Edgell (1980) - decision making and importance

• Very important decisions: man alone or jointly with man having final say

• Important decisions: jointly, seldom wife alone

• Less important decisions: wife

• Men more likely to take decisions as earn more

  • Women earn less, economically dependent on husbands and therefore have less of a say

Feminist explanation of unequal division of decision making/resource splitting

• All these inequalities are due to the patriarchy instilling the idea that men are decision makers through gender role socialisation

Cultural explanation of decision making — Crompton and Lyonette (2008)

• Decision making determined by patriarchal norms and values that shape gender roles

  • Men make more of the decisions because that’s what society expects and has socialised them to do

Pahl - pooling of money

• Doesn’t necessarily mean equality

• Important to know who controls pooled money and equality of contributions (equal even if difference in incomes? Mme Scales comment)

Vogler et al - cohabitation and storing of money

• Cohabiting couples less likely to pool money, perhaps wish to maintain independence

• Cohabiting couples more likely than married couples to equally share domestic tasks

Nyman (2003) - meaning of money in relationships

• Money has no fixed meaning and different couples define it in different ways, which can effect the nature of their relationship

Personal life perspective

• Meanings that money has in a relationship cannot be taken for granted

  • E.g. one partner controlling the money in a relationship could be seen as unequal for some and equal for others

Personal life perspective - Smart (2007) - same-sex couples

• Same-sex couples give a different meaning to control of money in a relationship

• Gay men and lesbians attached no importance to who controlled money

  • Happy to leave this to their partners

• Control of money not seen as indicator of equality

• Greater freedom to do what suits them as a couple

  • SS couples don’t enter a relationship with preconceived notions about money (esp. as a source of power), allowing for more flexible financial arrangements

PLP - Weeks et al (2001) - alternative money management system

• Typical pattern: pool household spending money, separate accounts for personal spending

• Reflects value of co-independence - sharing but each partner maintains some independence by retaining control over some of their money

• Similar to cohabiting couples trend (Vogler et al)