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Beliefs About Money in Families: Balancing Unity, Autonomy, and Gender Equality
Author(s) -
Pepin Joanna R.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/jomf.12554
Subject(s) - autonomy , inequality , demographic economics , perception , economics , economic inequality , survey data collection , value (mathematics) , social psychology , labour economics , sociology , psychology , political science , mathematical analysis , statistics , mathematics , neuroscience , machine learning , computer science , law
Objective: This study provides the first nationally representative data on U.S. adults' perceptions of income sharing within families.Background: Modern couples confront tensions between ideals of mutual interests and values of economic autonomy, a departure from fitting themselves into culturally expected family arrangements of the past. This study teases apart the conditions under which people might prioritize one cultural value over another.Method: The author conducted a nationally representative survey experiment ( N = 3,986 individuals). The respondents selected an income allocation arrangement for a fictional couple with varied relationships investments (i.e., marriage, parenthood, length of relationship) and earning disparities.Results: Although stronger relationship investments were associated with greater support for sharing all income, the most commonly selected income allocation arrangement was a hybrid arrangement of sharing some income and keeping the rest separate. When respondents preferred some amount of financial autonomy, the primary earner was expected to maintain ownership of a greater amount of the total household income. The preferred level of withholding income was slightly larger in magnitude when women were shown as the primary earner when compared with men shown as the primary earner.Conclusion: The pursuit of economic autonomy, in combination with beliefs about gender, are important dimensions of gender inequality located within families.