CASCO HISTÓRICO

Table 9.1 suggests that access to personal spending may form a crucial divide between women in the study group. It is therefore essential to consider the importance of spending money in the lives of these women, as revealed in the in-depth interviews.

9.2.1 Households where both partners had spending money

All of the households in which both partners had spending money were in the hardly deprived group. Those women who had personal spending money got it in one of two ways. Some, like Isobel, had money ‘ring-fenced’ for her own use within a joint account. This was not necessarily a fixed weekly amount, but something which she knew was there when she needed it and which she could spend freely:

‘I don’t mind spending money when I go shopping because I do it so rarely, and I want to get good quality stuff … I also do shopping on the internet, new stuff, I can’t be bothered with e-bay and those sort of things. So I’ll buy probably buy good quality fairly expensive stuff over the internet.’

The remainder of the women in this group had their own bank accounts which had money in them explicitly identified as ‘hers’. Jill and her partner, for example, both had their own spending accounts into which £250 was paid monthly from joint funds. Gabrielle’s wages were paid into her own account, and only a portion of this then went on household expenditure: ‘I like to keep a

healthy balance in my account, between five hundred and a thousand in there … If I wanted to, if there’s something I wanted to buy, I’d say I would.’

Having paid work seems to have been an important factor in securing ring- fenced spending money for the women in this group; five of the six women in this group had paid work. So was a relatively high household income, with all of these women having a household income in the top half of the spread in the study group.

The women who had personal spending money typically spent it on four things: clothes, haircuts, hobbies of their own and leisure activities shared with their partner, all of which have been discussed in section 8.3.5. Both clothes and haircuts could be considered as essential items but were often described as luxuries or leisure activities by interviewees; Fiona described getting her hair cut as ‘both a luxury and an essential, a bit of both’. At least women in this group were able to spend on such items freely, unlike some of the other women in the study group who, as will be shown later, were often unable to afford such

essentials. Isobel spent almost all of her personal spending money on clothes:

‘When I go shopping for myself I’ll tend to binge, so I don’t have to do it for a year. And I don’t mind spending money when I go because I do it so rarely.’ The

way that Marie spent her personal spending money was similar:

‘I get my hair done about every two months, it costs £45. And I get my eyebrows waxed … I don’t really buy clothes that much now. I do have to be smart for work. When I got the job I went out and bought a whole new wardrobe, new shirts and trousers, jumpers and all that … I like going shopping, but I don’t do it very often. Perhaps if I was going out for the night I might go and get something.’

Nevertheless, having personal spending money was no guarantee of an adequate supply of money to cover expensive clothes and haircuts. Bridget described her shopping habits: ‘Charity shops mostly, Freecycle, or sales. I don’t set myself a

budget, just as and when. I’m not the sort who has to get a new wardrobe every so often. Haircuts is just when it gets really desperate, and I dye it myself.’

Gabrielle was also very careful; ‘I do rummage through the charity shops. I

don’t spend a lot on me. I’d buy stuff from the charity shops if I saw something nice. And hair, I don’t have my hair cut often. It needs cutting. Maybe about once every three months.’

For this group of women, having access to personal spending money was often linked to a regular hobby or leisure activity: ‘I like gardening. The cost is

minimal. I’d like to have an allotment; I’ve got my name on the list. But it’s just here at the moment, I’ve got pots at the back.’ (Gabrielle) ; ‘[My hobbies are] going swimming, doing yoga, going to coffee shops with friends, and going for massages’ (Jill) ‘My hobbies are cycling, mountain walking. I’ve got all my mountain walking gear, I got that a long time ago. Saved. … If you buy the good stuff in the first place it lasts for ages.’ (Bridget)

Having a hobby was also important for the well-being of these women. Marie was typical:

‘I do hip-hop dancing. I’ve just started, every Thursday. Have a night out to myself, that was my new year’s resolution, do something for myself. I think when you have a baby you stop thinking about yourself don’t you? And I thought no, I need to have my own time, like have a night to myself where I do something for myself. It was £30 for six weeks.’

In households where both partners had their own personal spending money interviewees were generally able to give clear examples of the way personal spending money, or the lack of it, was equally shared between both partners:

‘I’ve got an account of my own, a current account … which is for my own personal spending like massages or coffee shops and presents for my husband. And then he has his own current account as well’ (Jill).

9.2.2 Households where neither partner had spending money

Turning to the group of households where neither partner had spending money, all but one (Fiona’s) were in the highly deprived group. The women in these