Projects

Project Five: Within-household Inequalities and Public Policy

Principal Investigator: Holly Sutherland (Essex)
Principal Investigator: Fran Bennett (Oxford)
Principal Investigator: Susan Himmelweit (OU)

Aims
The project will explore alternative approaches to understanding the behavioural and distributional impact of policy change which take account of gender inequalities in power and influence within the household. It will use such approaches to analyse the effects of actual and potential changes in fiscal, social security and associated labour market policies in the UK.

Background
Any analysis conducted at the level of the household obscures the effect of gender inequalities within households (Jenkins, 1991; Himmelweit, 2002). In particular, treating household income as pooled obscures women's 'hidden' poverty within households and the gendered inequalities in the control of household resources. Gender sensitive policy analysis is needed to go 'beyond the front door' to open up the 'closed box' of the family/household unit (Daly, 2000; Lister, 2000). The case for examining within-household inequalities is persuasive, not only on moral grounds but also to improve policy design (Jenkins, 1994).

However, a practical approach to analysing the effects of policy on within-household inequalities has yet to be developed. Qualitative research has shown that the source, purpose and recipient of means-tested benefits influence access to resources within low-income families (Goode et al., 1998). Bargaining models suggest 'gender specific parameters' (Folbre, 1997) which could affect the relative power of men and women in controlling household resources (Chen and Wooley, 2001; Vermeulen, 2000). But the informational requirements of such models have limited their empirical use and they have rarely been applied to the gender analysis of policy. Quantitative and qualitative investigations more specifically focused on current issues in the UK are needed if the combined insights of these two methods are to be applied to the analysis of current and potential policy changes.

Policy simulation models, such as POLIMOD, can assess the impact of policy reforms on household incomes and on individual labour market incentives using income pooling assumptions, and have also been used to assess individual incomes using a number of ad hoc global assumptions (Duncan et al., 1994; Sutherland, 1997). To understand the range of effects of policy on gendered individuals within households requires assumptions about the gender specific parameters affecting intra-household resource allocation. This project will enable assumptions that reflect contemporary diversity to be used, and will therefore improve these models' representation of the gender effects of policies.

The government has been taking an increasing interest in the gender and intra-household effects of its policies. By adding an analysis of the effects on the within-household distribution, this project will deepen existing gender analyses of the ways in which recent reforms have reduced or intensified gender inequalities (Rake, 2001; Bennett, 2002).

Key research questions include: What are the policy-relevant gender specific parameters that affect the distribution of power, entitlements to and use of resources within households in the UK? In particular, do perceptions about entitlements and intra-household distribution of resources depend on the source and recipient of income? How do current and potential policy changes affecting access to different sources of income impact on gender roles and relationships within households? What ambiguities and tensions arise in attempting to improve both the distribution of resources between households and women's access to resources within the household? What lessons can be drawn from the above for developing policies that improve women's financial autonomy?

Diverse methods will be used including a review of the theoretical and empirical literature on bargaining models and within-household resource allocation, combined with documentary analysis of recent policy developments in the UK and other industrialised countries, to identify generic gender-specific parameters that may influence intra-household resource allocation and are relevant to current and potential policy changes in the UK. Qualitative analysis to investigate empirically the influence of these parameters, including different types and sources of income, on the control of household resources in the UK context (a purposive sample of approximately 30 low/moderate income male-female couples, with separate, semi-structured interviews). Quantitative analysis using existing household micro-datasets to turn more general statements about gender-specific parameters and findings from the qualitative research into theoretically and empirically well-founded assumptions that can be built into the policy simulation model. Policy simulation using POLIMOD of the gender effects of current and potential policy changes on individual resource allocations and incentives using a range of such assumptions. An analysis of the overall effect of these changes on gender inequalities, roles and relationships and on the consequences for women's financial autonomy.

Project Contact
Dr Holly Sutherland
Institute for Social and Economic Research
University of Essex
Colchester
Essex
CO4 3SQ
hollys@essex.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1206 873534