Women Call the Shots at Home
"Hey, honey, how much money is in our checking account?"
If that question floats around your home, chances are it is the man of the house doing the asking.
Pew Research Center conducted a survey of 2,250 people involved in a couplehood and found that women make most of the decisions in the home.
The four areas that Pew looked at were decisions about weekend activities, major home purchases, household finances and television watching. While the answer shared decision making was not given to respondents, almost half of those surveyed stated that they did share decision making when it comes to weekend activities and major purchases.
The age of the couple actually plays a part in this process. Men and women over 65 are more than twice as likely than those under the age of 30 to state that decision making is shared equally.
Perhaps this has something to do with kids being out of the homes of seniors. Since many couples in their late twenties and throughout the thirties age range are having children, and in some of these homes the man is working more hours while the woman takes care of more domestic matters, it would make sense that the woman becomes the majority decision maker in the home. This would seem particularly true if the mother stayed at home with the kids, because she would spend more time caring for the children and, most likely, determining and controlling things that happen in the home, such as play dates on the weekends and the checkbook.
The good news? In homes where a large purchase is made, nearly 46% of couples make this decision jointly. (Imagine husband driving up in a brand new sports car without the consent, or knowledge, of wife!)
The bad news? The men and women surveyed could not agree as to who was really in charge of the finances. In fact, 2/3 of the couples surveyed stated that only one couple really manages the finances but these men and women couldn't agree on which partner that was! Men said men and women said women. Hm, may be time to sit down with the spouse and discuss this, don't you think?!
Only 8% of couples stated that all decisions made in these four areas are shared.
So, how is it in your home? Who controls the pursestrings, the remote, the weekend calendar and the large purchase decisions?
In our home, my husband is the financial man, we typically plan weekends together, we share the remote or one will tape a program while watching the other's top pick and large purchases are always discussed before bought.
