resources and decision-making in households Flashcards
what three points do Barrett and McIntosh make about family resources?
- men gain far more from women’s domestic work than they give back in financial support
- financial support that their husbands give to their wives is often predictable and comes with ‘strings’ attached
- men usually make decisions about spending money on important items
what did Kempson find about women in low-income households?
- they denied themselves their own needs, seldom going out, and skipping meals or eating less to make ends meet
what are the two types of control over family income identified by Pahl and Vogler?
- the allowance system and pooling
define the allowance system
- where men give their wives an allowance out of which they have to budget to meet family needs, with the man retaining any surplus income for himself
define the pooling system
- both partners have access to income and joint responsibility for expenditure
- eg a joint bank account.
what does the usage of the pooling system indicate?
- that the division of labour is fairer
- this is more common amongst couples that are both in full-time work
when can the pooling system be seen as unfair?
- when the man has more control over the system as well as more influence over the decisions being made
what did Hardill find about dual-career professional couples?
- 30 couples
- she found that important decisions were usually taken by the man alone
- his career was often much more of a priority when deciding whether to move house for a new job
what did Finch (1983) find about women’s lives?
- they tended to be structured around their husband’s careers
what are the three types of decisions that Edgell found in his study of professional couples?
- very important decisions
- important decisions
- less important decisions
define very important decisions
- involving finance, a change of job or moving house were either taken by the husband or taken jointly but with the woman having the final say
define important decisions
- children’s education or where to go on holiday were usually taking seldom by the wife alone or jointly
define less important decisions
- choices such as home decor, children’s clothes or food purchases were usually made by the wife
what does Edgell argue about the results he found?
- the reason men are likely to take the decisions is that they earn more
- women usually earn less than their husbands and, being dependent on them **economically, having **less to say in decision-making
what did Laurie and Gershuny find in their 1995 study about equal say in relationships?
- 70% of couples had equal say in decisions although they found that in couples where women were high earning, well qualified professionals they were more likely to have an equal say
what do Gershuny and Laurie’s findings provide support for?
- Crompton and Lyonette economic or material explanation of gender inequality
how do feminists argue about the differences in decision-making?
- these inequalities aren’t due to earning power but are a result of the patriarchy because it has reproduced gender socialisation through the cultural definition
- until this definition is challenged, decision-making is likely to remain unequal (supporting Crompton and Lyonette)
what does Pahl note about the assumed equality regarding the pooling system?
- it doesn’t always mean equality as we need to know who controls the pooled money and whether each partner contributes equally
what did Vogel find about cohabiting couples regarding money?
- they were less likely to pool their money as a desire for independence but co-habiting couples were still more likely to share domestic tasks equally
what does Nyman (2003) note about money?
- money has no automatic, fixed or natural meaning
- different couples can define it in different ways
what did Smart (2007) find about same sex relationships and money?
- she found that some gay men and lesbians attached no importance to who controlled the money and were perfectly happy to leave this to their partners
what did Weeks et al (2001) find about couples and money?
- they found that the typical pattern was pooling some money for household spending, together with separate accounts for personal spending
- this money management system reflects a value of ‘co-independence’ - where there is sharing, but where each partner remains control over some money and maintains a sense of independence
why does Smart argue that there is greater freedom for same sex couples?
- because they do not enter relationships with the same ‘historical, gendered, heterosexual baggage of cultural meanings around money’ that see money as a source of power
