Resources and decision in households

• money management (pahl)

  • the allowance system - men gave women an allowance while the men kept the surplus value from themselves
  • pooling - both partners had access to the income and had joint responsibility of the accounts
• decision making (edgell)

  • very important decision - e.g. finance, moving house, changing jobs were made by the husband
  • importance of decisions - e.g. childrens education, holidays were made by the wife
  • less important decisions - e.g. home decor, food were made by the wife
  • women earn less than men so the wife was automatically dependent on them economically
• Evaluation of decision making

  • Laurie and Gershuny (2000) found by 1995, 70% of couples said they had equal say in financial decisions
• The 'personal life' perspective on money

  • focuses on the meanings couples give to who controls the money
  • Carol Smart (2001) found gay men and lesbians attached no importance to who controlled money and were happy to leave this to their partners
  • she also found that there is greater freedom for same sex couples to do what suits them as a couple
  • she suggests this may be because they do not enter relationships with the same 'historical, gendered, heterosexual baggage' of cultural meanings around money