COUPLES: Resources and decision making in households Flashcards
Barrett + Mclntosh
- What 3 things did they find about couples
- men gain more from womens domestic work than they provide from their own financial support
- Financial support that husbands give to wives is often unpredictable and comes with ‘strings’ attached
- Men usually make decisions about spending on important items
Kempson - Keyword - Material explanation
- What did she find
- Why did this happen
- What does this show
“Ends meet”
WHAT: in low income families, women denied their own needs, rarely going out and eating smaller portions of foods to make ends meet
WHY: Usually, women don’t have entitlement to a share of household resources in her own right = seeing anything she spends on herself as money to rather be spent on essentials for the children.
SHOWS: Family members don’t share resources like money and food equally
Money management
Pahl + Vogler - Keyword
- What did they find about the 2 main controls over money (and a limitation, with a sociologist to support this)
“Pooling”
1 - The allowance system = men give wives an allowance, retaining any surplus income himself
2 - Pooling = both partners have access to an income and ability for expenditure
(but even with pooling, men usually made the major financial decisions – Hardill)
Decision making - Material explanation
Edgell - Keyword
- What was his study findings
- Why does he argue men are more likely too make decisions
“tripartite decision making system”
FINDINGS: Very important decisions (financial decisions either taken by the husband alone or with the final say overall) Important decisions (like children education, seldom taken by the wife alone) Less important decisions (choice of home decor, usually made by the wife)
WHY: Because women earn less = more economic dependence on their husbands = less say in decision making
Decision making - Material explanation
Laurie and Gershuny
- What statistic do they use to criticise Edgell
- But, what was a limitation of this
STATISTIC; by 1995, 70% of couples said they had an equal say in decisions
LIMITATION: It was only women who were high earning in qualified professions who were more likely to agree they had an equal say
Cultural explanation
Feminists
- What do they argue is the reason for the unequal GDoL
WHAT: There is a CULTURAL DEFINITION of men as the DECISION MAKERS in a patriarchal society
- Until this definition is challenged, the GDoL will remain unequal
what are the 4 reasons why decision making is distributed unequally
- Decision making - mainly material explanations
- Cultural explanations
- Meaning of money
- Personal life
Meaning of money - Material explanation
Vogler Et Al - Keyword
- What did he find
- What is the significance of this finding
“Cohabitating couples”
WHAT: Cohabitating couples were less likely to pool their money, but they were more likely to share domestic tasks equally
SIGNIFICANCE: We need to understand the meaning of money for couples
Meaning of money
Nyam
- What does she argue is important to look at
WHAT: The meaning of money, since it has no automatic or natural meaning, different couples can define it in different ways, which reflect the nature of the relationship
Personal life
- What does this view particularly focus on
- Why is this view important to take into account
WHAT: Meaning couples give to who controls the money
IMPORTANCE: All couples dont attack the same meaning - E.g. one couples thinking money control is a sign of inequality, another might not agree
Personal life
Smart - keyword
- What did she find
- Why does she argue this happened
“LGBTQ couples”
WHAT: Gay and lesbian couples attached no importance to who controlled the money as they didn’t see money as meaning either equality or inequality in the relationship
WHY: Homosexual couples dont enter relationships with the same gendered and cultural meanings around money, who see money as a source of power
Personal life
Weeks Et Al - Keyword
- What does he argue
“Co-independence”
WHAT: In gay couples, the common pattern was pooling some money together with separate accounts for personal spending = a co-independence (where there’s sharing but each partner retains some control over some money and maintains a sense of independence)
