Power Relationships:

Power Relationships:

The distribution of power and authority concerns how much control over decision making each partner has and who is the most able to get their own way, and make decisions about important factors affecting family life

Barrett + McIntosh:

Men gain far more from women’s domestic work than what they give back in financial support

The financial support that husbands give to their wives often has strings attached

Men usually make the decisions about spending on important items

Kempson (AO3) - Women in low income families will often deny their own needs for their family e.g. skipping meals

Pahl + Vogler:

Allowance system - Husband gives wife a set amount of money, which is budgeted to meet family’s needs

Pooling - Both partners will pool their income together, e.g. in a joint bank account

Pahl

Pooling money doesn’t equal equality, we need to know who controls the money and whether each partner contributes equally

Vogler

Cohabiting couples are less likely to pool money, as they want to retain independence, yet they are more likely to have joint conjugal roles

Even when there was pooling in relationships, men usually made the major financial decisions

AO2 - ‘Couples with joint bank accounts last longer’

Couples who pool their finances are less likely to break up than couples who keep their finances separate

Having a joint account is likely to benefit most couples

PLP - Nyman, Dunne:

Nyman

Couples can attach different meanings to money which reflects the nature of the relationship

Some couples may not see one partner controlling the money as unequal

Dunne

No gender scrips

PLP - Smart, Weeks:

Smart

Some gay men and lesbians attached no importance to who controlled the money and were happy to leave this to their partners

Weeks

Found evidence of co-independence, the typical pattern was pooling some money for household spending, whilst having separate bank accounts for personal spending

Inequalities in money management (AO3):

59% of married couples say they consult each other on all financial issues

44% of working women were mainly responsible for making financial decisions compared to 53% of working men

Pooling dropped to 1/3 for women who worked part time (Pahl + Vogler)

Gender pay gap means that women have less disposable income to use and are likely to have a lower credit score to borrow money

Decision making - Hardhill:

Studied 30 dual earner couples and found that men alone or jointly couples made financial decisions

The man’s career was a priority when deciding whether to move house for a new job

Decision making - Edgell:

Studied professional couples and found;

Very Important decisions

Change of job or moving house were taken by the man or jointly, but with the husband having the final say in important decisions

Important decisions

About children’s education or holidays were taken jointly

Less important decisions

About home décor, children’s clothes or food purchases were usually made by the wife

All of this is due to men earning more than women

Crompton and Lyonette (AO3):

Found evidence of the ideological and material explanation for gender inequality being built into socialisation and the fact that women earn less than men

Marriage or Cohabitation (AO3):

‘Married couples tend to have traditional gender roles and males have more power in relationships’

May not be applicable, marriage is at its lowest ever levels

Increase in cohabitation and people looking for a pure relationship

Decline in stigma and increase in secularisation

The effects of power imbalances in the family (AO3):

Gender pay gap

Women are more likely to take on a ‘triple shift’

• Walby argues that it maintains the patriarchy