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The gendered nature of intra-household decision making in and across Europe

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  • Schneebaum, Alyssa
  • Mader, Katharina

Abstract

After surveying the literature on the economics of household decision-making, we employ data from the 2010 European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) to study the relationship between personal characteristics such as gender and decision-making power and responsibility. We find that across Europe, women more often make decisions about everyday spending and purchases for children, while it is mainly men who make the financial decisions in a household. Greater intrahousehold inequality in income and education is correlated with a lower probability of couples making decisions together, as is having a housewife in the home. Interesting patterns of household decision-making across countries emerge; in the Southern European countries, for example, educational differences do not seem to be strongly related to decision-making power and responsibility, and women in Eastern European countries are more likely to make financial decisions when the household reports facing difficult economic conditions.

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  • Schneebaum, Alyssa & Mader, Katharina, 2013. "The gendered nature of intra-household decision making in and across Europe," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 157, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wus005:3995
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    3. Rashid Javed & Mazhar Mughal, 2019. "Have a Son, Gain a Voice: Son Preference and Female Participation in Household Decision Making," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(12), pages 2526-2548, December.
    4. Alistair Munro, 2018. "Intra†Household Experiments: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 134-175, February.
    5. Sariyev, O., 2018. "A new index for gendered decision-making, considering all family members, its determinants, and effects on food security," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277479, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Bárcena-Martín, Elena & Blázquez, Maite & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2020. "The role of income pooling and decision-making responsibilities in material deprivation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 416-428.
    7. Rashid Javed & Mazhar Mughal, 2019. "Have a Son, Gain a Voice: Son Preference and Female Participation in Household Decision Making," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(12), pages 2526-2548, December.
    8. Alyssa Schneebaum & Miriam Rehm & Katharina Mader & Katarina Hollan, 2018. "The Gender Wealth Gap Across European Countries," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 295-331, June.
    9. Bárcena-Martín, Elena & Blázquez, Maite & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2020. "Intra-household arrangements: How important are they in terms of male-female subjective well-being?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    10. Sergii Maksymovych, 2017. "Decision-Making in the Household and Material Deprivation," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp604, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    11. Malabayabas, Maria Luz L. & Mishra, Ashok K. & Pede, Valerien O., 2023. "Joint decision-making, technology adoption and food security: Evidence from rice varieties in eastern India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    intra-household decision making; Europe; bargaining power;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis
    • P52 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies
    • B54 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Feminist Economics

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