Study: Financial Responsibilities Becoming Less of a Gender Issue, More of an Earnings Issue
Bloomberg
saving and investment choices, and other financial decisions—the likelihood of having more responsibility increases as an adult’s relative income ranking increases, regardless of gender. Whichever partner earns more is the one who is most likely to take the lead on that task.
The last realm, household shopping, however, has remained heavily gendered relative to the other tasks. Regardless of whether the male or female partner earns more, women remain responsible for doing the shopping. Conversely, only one in six men are mainly responsible for the shopping.
The last realm, household shopping, however, has remained heavily gendered relative to the other tasks. Regardless of whether the male or female partner earns more, women remain responsible for doing the shopping. Conversely, only one in six men are mainly responsible for the shopping.
Outside day-to-day money management, though, the study also found that most couples in the U.S. tend to be equal partners in major financial matters. These decisions are much more likely to be shared equally, with over 50 percent of households estimated as doing so no matter the member’s gender and relative income.
"The dichotomy is not surprising, as financial decisions are often important enough to discuss among both adult members, whereas the other two activities [bill payments and shopping] are more routine tasks that are more efficiently undertaken by one individual," said the paper.