Who is in Charge of Family Finances in Russia?

• In Event: 054 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 20. Work and Family Decisions

Abstract

Relying on a recent representative survey of the Russian adult population, we investigate gender relations in the family by exploring who is in charge of money in Russian two-partner families. We employ family budget management categories developed by Vogler and Pahl (1994): male-dominated, female-dominated, joint or partial pool and independent money management systems, and investigate the effect of several factors on the choice of money management. We find that the most common way to manage family money in the Russian two-partner households is by pooling the money together, with 45% of respondents choosing this category. We use multinomial regression analysis to argue that budget management system is influenced by five factors: (1) the per capita family income (men are more likely to be in charge of the money in more affluent families compared to less affluent, where women tend to hold the purse); (2) respondents’ gender (men and women characterize their money management systems differently, both genders overstating the degree to which they are in charge); (3) length of marriage (longer-married couples are more likely to manage money together, while in younger marriages men are more likely than in longer-running ones to be holding the purse); (4) wife’s education (in families with more educated wives money tend to be managed together); and (5) the way that money was managed in the family of the respondent’s parents, the latter suggesting a socialization effect.

Authors

• Alya Guseva, Boston University

• Dilyara Ibragimova, National Research University