The Changing Shape Of Family Finances
Author: Rachel Lane
Families are becoming an increasingly complex unit when it
comes to money management. Parents are working longer hours,
couples are spending less time with each other and children are
becoming increasingly sophisticated in their material wants and
information needs. Whilst centralizing funds is important in
the family, so is an analysis of the individual roles and
associated financial requirements.
Super-mums
It seems that the proof of maternal efforts is no longer found
in the pudding … it’s in the spending. Women are increasingly
outsourcing personal grooming tasks and the pressure of looking
good, feeling healthy, maintaining a tight ship and IQ level has
meant that housecleaning and gardening are again fashionable
methods to promote the family brand; housewifery is now a
career, with all the attitude of 21st century post-feminism.
It emerged in a recent BBC report, that a new type of parent
was surfacing….the “manager mum”. Manager mums tend to use the
internet to save time on tasks and streamline activity, using
the Web to undertake jobs such as grocery shopping or banking.
Once they’ve got their partner, it doesn’t seem women can relax
about their appearances, with women in relationships spending
more on their appearance than their single counterparts. UK
housewives spend a massive £5 billion on ‘keeping up
appearances’, in terms of gardening, home furnishings and
personal grooming, according to a study by Virgin Money Credit
Cards. UK women are splurging out an average of £3,488 each on
personal appearance and their home and garden. Of the £3,488,
47% is spent on the home and garden, whilst the remainder goes
on clothes, haircuts, beauty products and treatments.
The pressure to look good may be a factor in women being
labelled as the worst savers, as reported by Guardian
Unlimited. In an annual study by IFA Promotion, 63% of the
women who stated that they were unable to put aside further
savings, admitted to spending their spare cash on costly and
unnecessary luxuries, whilst 28% of women get themselves into
debt with expensive purchases. Women apparently seem to be
content with spending up to 75% of disposable income and saving
less than 20%, in contrast to men who save over 25% of their
income and invest 8%.
Peter Pan fathers
Whilst fathers are not physically getting any younger, there is
evidence that their mental age may be falling. The BBC recently
reported that a new type of dad had emerged – the “gadget dad”,
whilst in November last year, the Guardian reported that men
were significantly delaying fatherhood. In a study by
Panlogic, “gadget dads” love technology and have all the latest
tech toys, from Sky TV to a car navigation system. Perhaps this
love of tech toys is also the reason inhibiting men from
diverting funds to babies. According to the Guardian, 81% of
men admitted that financial fears would make them postpone
having children and if current trends continue, the average age
of men becoming fathers will rise to 40 by 2065. Virgin Money
Life Insurance also reported in their studies that new fathers
were waiting longer to start families and that UK fathers are
working the longest hours in Europe.
Savvy kids
A recent investigation by Halifax found a positive attitude
towards saving is increasing amongst children. Whilst in 1998,
a third of children saved more than they spent; now that figure
is over fifty percent. The bank discovered that most children
are prepared to save for an expensive item, though parents of
younger children faced more of a struggle, as 22% of seven to
eleven year olds pestered their way towards getting what they
wanted. Piggy banks, it would seem, may become sentimental
souvenirs, as more children save their money in a bank or
building society.
This trend of ‘keeping up appearances’ seems to induce
individualistic behaviour in families, reducing co-operation on
financial issues. This erodes family values in society and
discourages future generations from investing in children.
Without the motivation to invest in sustainable communities or
even a sustainable standard of living, (currently supported by
£1.1 trillion of debt), the issue of successful management of
family finance remains trivial.
Additional information:
Family finance information:
http://www.moneynet.co.uk/
Useful brochures & fact sheets from
http://www.unbiased.co.uk/website/brochures/
Random financial ranting: http://cashzilla.blogspot.com/
About The Author: Cashzilla is an Aries. He has a flamboyant
character and a tongue that could heat up any conversation. If
Cashzilla was an A-Team character, he'd be Murdock. In the
words of Cashzilla..."I'm hairy, scary and lairy"
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