Recourses and Decision-Making in Households

• Barrett and Mclntosh found that men gain far more from womens domestic support than they provide in finance
• Financial support from husbands is often unpreditable and comes with strings attached
• Kempson found in low income families women would often deny their own needs
• Pahl and Voglet identified two types if control over family income
• The two types of family income are; Pooling system and Allowance system
• Hardhill's study of 30 dual career professional couples found decisions were usually taken by either a male alone or jointly
• Edgell conducted research on professional couples and identified three types of decision making practises
• The three types of decision making practises (Edgell) are;

  • Very important decisions
  • Important decisions
  • Less important decisions
• Very important decisions are usually decided by the husband, ie moving house or decisions about career goals
• Important decisions were usually jointly made, ie holidays or where children should go to school
• Less important decisions were usually made by the wife, ie food or cheap gifts for children