Social and Economic Change and the Organisation of Money within Marriage

Abstract

This paper examines the methods couples use to organise money and the extent to which particular methods involve inequalities between men and women. It uses data on over 1200 households, drawn from the Social Change and Economic Life Initiative, a major British study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. Various systems of allocation are identified and the paper discusses the determinants of these different systems and the extent to which patterns of allocation have changed over time, especially with regard to women's increased participation in the labour market. The results of this research do not support the theory that such changes in participation are leading, deterministically, to greater equality in household financial arrangements. Rather, the gendering of the responsibility for `breadwinning' continues and this has clear effects on both financial arrangements and inequalities within households.