Withinhousehold inequalities and public policy

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Within-household inequalities and public policy

• Fran Bennett, Sue Himmelweit and Holly Sutherland
  
• with Sirin Sung
• ESRC Gender Equality Network
• Project 5
• (GeNet Conference, Cambridge 14-15 December)

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Introduction

• Overview of project as a whole
• Qualitative research aims, methods, sample,
  interview guide
• Preliminary findings dealing with money
  coupledom vs. autonomy benefits and tax credits
• Conclusions and challenges

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Within household inequalities and public policy
project 5

• The family is a key site of distribution (of
  resources, time and labour), but is often a
  black box which is not investigated and in
  which equality is assumed.
• Aims
• To explore alternative approaches to
  understanding the behav-
• ioural distributional impact of policy
  change which take account
• of gender inequalities in power 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.
• Methods qualitative and quantitative research,
  policy simulation.

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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 suggest possible
  distributional factors to test and investigate
  gendered impact of recent potential policy
  changes in benefits/tax credits/labour market
  policy

5
Qualitative research sample

• Semi-structured, separate interviews with
• members of 30 low/moderate income couples
• Sample from BHPS/ECHP (booster)
• Heterosexual couples, at least one of working
• age, who have 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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Stages of research

• Interview guide drafted and revised
• Interviews piloted (in east Oxford)
• Access, letters, and vouchers, via ISER
• Issues in arranging and going to interviews
• Expectations of interviewees
• Difficulties of separate interviews at home
• Questionnaire (from Living in Britain)

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Interview guide

• Factual information catching up on BHPS
• Income coming in, purpose, use of
• Budgeting, bank accounts, credit/borrowing,
  savings
• Money and children
• Money in own right, personal spending
• Overall organisation of money
• General decision-making (incl. housework)
• Benefits and tax credits

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Findings dealing with money

• Differential factual awareness men/women
• Unitary, not equality? eg all in one pot
• Continuity of gendered patterns eg mens
• pocket money Im bills, shes food etc
• Management vs control nuanced, complex
• Personal spending gendered difference?
• Saving men dismiss it, women fail at it?

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Coupledom and autonomy

• In tension joint or individual focus
• may be useful in terms of power?
• Money in your own right meaning-
• less to many men
• Benefits (incl. disability/carers) give
• independent income to some women

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Findings benefits/tax credits

• Speculative questions often difficult
• Child benefit taken for granted as is
• Main carer concept (child tax credit)
• disliked by many men few women
• More support for splitting payment of
• benefit for adults than for children.

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Conclusions challenges

• Analysis of money management/gender and
• savings carried out analysis of couples
• relationships, benefits/tax credits to do
• Investigate information in BHPS and
• questionnaire in relation to same couples
• Develop indicators of autonomy?
• Consider relationship to quantitative and
• policy simulation elements of research

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• Differential factual awareness
• We have a joint account..I am not sure if we
  have any savings account. I dont think we do.
  (The woman, Case 30)
• We have a joint account and we have several ISAs
  savings account. We have a joint ISA and one
  for each ie two individual ISAs. (The man, Case
  30)
• Idealism versus practicality on joint accounts
• If youre a couple, you have to trust each other.
  If you are committed to each other, it shouldnt
  be any problem. (Case 10, Female)
• It identifies the source for, yes the source for
  paying all the necessary household bills that are
  done regularly, as I say your basic living
  things, like council tax, water, gas, electric
  etc. (Case 20, Male)

13

• Male breadwinning, female pin-money?
• Most of his her partners wage sort of keeps
  the house ticking over, mine is as I said before
  just really for big expenditure, as I said
  washing machine or fridge or something, or if
  there isnt enough left in the sort of pool, but
  mainly its for the luxuries. Mine doesnt
  contribute to the household really, not really
  no, because it is for holidays and stuff, so its
  not really yes, extra things. (Case 20)
• Personal spending gendered difference
• Yes I play golf, but that costs me 7.30 every
  week, thats it, out of my wages, I want 7.30
  thats mine, thats rightfully mine. (Male, Case
  12)
• I go to my Aunties up the road. Its a thing I
  did after I had the third child just so I had
  that couple of hours to myself reallyAnd he her
  husband goes to golf on a Saturday, so its
  fair, really, you know. (Female, Case 12)