What About Money? Earnings, Household Financial Organization, and Housework

Objective: This research investigates the role played by household financial organization in configuring the housework participation of women and men and in moderating the influence of earnings on housework. Background: Existing research has focused on the ways in which earnings shape gendered power and housework performance in couple relationships. However, no research has examined how household financial organization intervenes between the receipt of earnings in the labor market and the performance of housework at home. Method: Two-stage least squares regressions were used to analyze data from Waves 2 and 4 of the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study (N = 6,070 couples). Results: Management of household finances is associated with an increase in housework time for both men and women, whereas control of household financial decisions reduces men's but not women's housework time. Women's individual earnings reduce their housework time only when they can access these earnings. Men's relative earnings reduce their housework time when they or their partners manage the couple's earnings, but not when partners manage their earnings independently, supporting both resource bargaining theory and gendered resources theory. Women's individual earnings and men's relative earnings reduce their housework time only when they have partial or full control of household financial decisions. Conclusion: The management and control of household finances influence the time spent by women and men on housework in ways distinct from yet equally as important as those of earnings. Household financial organization is a key premise moderating when and how gender equality in the public sphere helps promulgate gender equality at home.