The changing shape of family finances

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 centralising 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/