Within Household Inequalities and Public Policy Fran Bennett University of Oxford

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Within Household Inequalities and Public
PolicyFran Bennett (University of Oxford)

• Gender Equality Network/EHRC seminar
• 23 May 2008

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Research project

• ESRC funded Gender Equality Network
  (www.genet.ac.uk) Project 5
• Within Household Inequalities and Public Policy
  Fran Bennett, Sue Himmelweit, Holly Sutherland,
  Sirin Sung, Jerome de Henau
• Qualitative, quantitative and policy simulation
  elements

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Overview of project

• The family is a key site of distribution (of
  resources, time and labour) (Daly and Rake, 2003,
  Lister, 2005) - but is often a black box which
  is not investigated and in which equality is
  assumed.
• Aims
• To explore alternative approaches to
  understanding the behavioural and distributional
  impact of policy change which take account of
  gender inequalities in power and influence in the
  household
• To use such approaches to analyse the effects of
  actual and potential changes in fiscal, social
  security and associated labour market policies

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Relevant policy developments

• Separation of tax credits into WTC for earner(?)
  and CTC for main carer
• Joint claims for JSA new duties, no benefit
• Abolition of most working age dependants
  increases (except in means-tested benefits)
• More change in womens relations with state - but
  action on claimants partners ceased?
  work-focused interviews for carers halted

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Obstacles to gender awareness

• Family unitary household view
• Time analysis of household at one point, not
  individuals over lifecycle - eg workless/
  work-rich versus work-poor (households)
  family-friendly tax (meaning 1 vs 2 earners)
• Benefits seen as primarily for household need,
  rather than social protection over lifetime or
  individual citizenship rights

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Government views

• Net tax rate for families - but income tax and
  NI contributions are individually based
• Highlights redistribution to women but largely
  for others and amounts, not roles/
  relationships/resources (Daly Rake, 2003)
• Tension between individualisation in labour
  market policies and joint assessment/joint
  ownership in benefits and tax credits?

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Gender and money issues

• From previous research, we know that it is not
  just how much income comes into the household
  which may be important but also
• - where income is from (source)
• - why it is being paid (purpose)
• - who receives it (recipient)
• - what it is called (labelling) and
• - how it is managed and controlled

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Qualitative research overview

• Aim to identify policy-relevant factors
  influencing gendered division of power
• Qualitative research
• uncover within-household processes
• identify indicators of intra-household division
  of power and wellbeing
• explore gendered impact of recent and potential
  policy changes

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Qualitative research sample

• Semi-structured, separate interviews with
• people in 30 low/moderate income couples
• Sample from BHPS/ECHP (booster)
• Heterosexual couples, mostly both of
• working age, had children at some point
• In England, Wales, Scotland (not N Ireland)
• If possible, in receipt of means-tested
• benefits/tax credits, now and/or in past

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Unitary household ?

• Drivers to jointness strong in our sample
• - virtually all were married (many remarried)
• - all had had children at some point
• - living on low/moderate income
• Expressed loyalty to couple/family found
• (all in one pot, no yours and mine, you
  never dream by yourself)
• Joint account symbolic of togetherness (but in
  practice, degree of jointness varied)

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Benefits/tax credits

• Speculative questions often difficult
• Issues of payee/ownership harder to disentangle
  than envisaged
• Insistence that many benefits/tax credits
  belonged to/were for family
• Lifecycle individual perspective lacking
• So were gender and money issues from previous
  research irrelevant?

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Income source and purpose

• Different sources affect sense of entitlement
• Money in own right meaningless to many men but
  not having to ask key for women
• Women aware of individual/family tensions
• Contradictory statements by men/women eg joint
  claim for TC right WTC belongs to him
• Commonly mans wage into joint account,
  benefit(s)/tax credits into womans

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Income recipient and label

• Contributions may give sense of ownership
• Joint claims/ownership not seen as problem - but
  frustration about joint assessment?
• Carers allowance and disability benefits can
  give (degree of) autonomy/voice
• Benefits could be seen as contribution
• Virtually no questioning of child benefit
• Main carer (for child tax credit) resented

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Income management/control

• Not just what/where from but how handled
• Knowledge of family income was gendered
• Traditional gender roles key (pocket money for
  man, Im bills shes food) but may coexist
  with strong desire for independence
• Timing of payments important (changing)
• Deprivation for women due to both managing role
  desire for independence?

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Goals and policy dilemmas

• How to protect those in traditional roles whilst
  not solidifying gender roles?
• How to ensure individual income whilst not
  undermining move to paid work?
• How to move towards autonomy whilst not assuming
  it has been achieved?
• To what extent to share caring more in society or
  between men and women?

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Potential policy directions?

• Emphasise societal support for caring and
  maintain benefits to meet costs (otherwise likely
  to be burden on women)
• Instead of extra support to one partner in couple
  investigate situation of other partner
• Extend social protection for individuals
• Support gender role sharing
• Consider wider households not just families