Chapter 4 Shopping Practices
110 explore whether there were differences in the level of responsibility for food shopping by gender and marital status for those aged 65 and over. The results in Table 4.7 show that there were statistically significant differences for gender (χ² = 44.338; df = 3; p < .001).
Chapter 4 Shopping Practices
111 Table 4.7. Food and You: level of responsibility for food shopping by gender and marital status (aged 65 and over).
All or most [95% CI]
About half [95% CI]
Less than half [95% CI] Not responsible [95% CI] N χ² 44.338 Males All 44.14 [34.90, 53.38] 18.92 [11.63, 26.21] 16.22 [9.36, 23.08] 20.72 [13.18, 28.26] 111 Married/Cohab 13.11 [4.64, 21.58] 27.87 [16.62, 39.12] 29.51 [18.06, 40.96] 29.51 [18.06, 40.96] 61 Single/Sep/Div 78.26 [61.40, 95.12] 17.39 [1.90, 32.88] - 4.35 [-3.99, 12.69] 23 Widowed 85.19 [71.79, 98.59] - - 14.81 [1.41, 28.21] 27 Females All 78.77 [72.75, 84.79] 13.41 [8.39, 18.43] 2.79 [0.36, 5.22] 5.03 [1.81, 8.25] 178 Married/Cohab 65.22 [53.98 76.46] 27.54 [17.00, 38.08] 4.35 [-0.46, 9.16] 2.90 [-1.06, 6.86] 69 Single/Sep/Div 77.78 [58.57, 96.99] 11.11 [-3.41, 25.63] 5.56 [-5.03, 16.15] 5.56 [-5.03, 16.15] 18 Widowed 89.01 [82.58, 95.44] 3.30 [-0.37, 6.97] 1.10 [-1.04, 3.24] 6.59 [1.49, 11.69] 91
Chapter 4 Shopping Practices
112 Taking the Food and You sample as a whole, almost 80 percent of women were
responsible for all or most of the food shopping compared with 44 percent of men. Amongst women, those who are married have less responsibility than those who are widowed, suggesting that there is a level of shared responsibility for food shopping when living with others. Married men are the least likely to have full responsibility when compared with non-married men or women of any marital status group.
Analyses from Food and You show that women are more likely than men to be responsible for food shopping and that married men have the least responsibility, which is consistent with previous research (Dholakia et al., 1995). Again, data from Food and You do not allow exploration of shared responsibility for food shopping; however, who does the food shopping within couples can be addressed with data from Understanding Society. Thus, analyses were performed to explore whether there were gender
differences in who does the grocery shopping in couples (married or living as married) aged 65 and over. Who does the grocery shopping had four levels: mostly self; mostly partner; shared; other. The results in Table 4.8 show that there were statistically significant differences for gender (χ² = 807.316; df = 4; p < .001).
Chapter 4 Shopping Practices
113 Table 4.8. Understanding Society: who does the grocery shopping (in couples) by gender (aged 65 and over).
All [95% CI] N Males [95% CI] n Females [95% CI] n Mostly self 24.64 [23.56, 25.72] 1505 12.94 [11.81, 14.07] 436 39.03 [37.20, 40.86] 1069 Mostly partner 24.98 [23.89, 26.07] 1526 36.36 [34.74, 37.98] 1225 10.99 [9.82, 12.16] 301 Shared 48.61 [47.36, 49.86] 2969 49.04 [47.35, 50.73] 1652 48.08 [46.21, 49.95] 1317 Other 1.59 [1.28, 1.90] 97 1.48 [1.07, 1.89] 50 1.72 [1.23, 2.21] 47 χ² = 807.316 p < .001 Note. CI = confidence interval.
Chapter 4 Shopping Practices
114 Thirteen percent of males reported doing most of the grocery shopping compared with 39 percent of females. Similarly, 36 percent of males and 11 percent of females reported that their partner does most of the grocery shopping. Thus, even though the framing of the question could be problematic, it seems to have been answered in the same way. Indeed, there is gender agreement as 49 percent of the respondents report that grocery shopping is a shared activity. This shows that although females are more likely than males to do most of the grocery shopping, it is often a shared activity in couples aged 65 and over. Although these results are not consistent with the findings from Food and You (in which fewer than a third of married respondents said food shopping was a shared activity), different questions had been asked and in different contexts. Moreover, this is a complex issue in which responsibility for food shopping may be shared and yet the actual shopping for food might be a more gendered activity. Thus, responsibility may not reflect practice.
All 26 married participants in the qualitative data have a main food shop, which is defined as the largest food shopping trip for the household. Of the married
participants, 11 accompany their spouses on a regular basis to do the main food shopping, in 11 of the households the woman does the main food shopping and in 4 households the man does the main food shopping, which is fairly consistent with findings from Understanding Society. In the households in which the man has taken full responsibility, the decision has been related to work status. This is the case with both Albert (68, married, Wirral) who does the weekly food shopping as he is retired yet his wife is still in full-time employment and with George (66, married, Wirral) who retired before his wife and has continued to do the food shopping since her
retirement. Indeed, two of the married women explain that their husbands took over the food shopping because of work-related reasons:
This is gonna sound ridiculous. Once a fortnight <husband> does all the shopping at the supermarket… Because when I was at work he was made redundant and he started to cook the tea and he would decide what we were having for tea so he started shopping for it. And that’s, that’s how it’s gone on, he, decides what we’re having. (Dorothy; 71, married, Wirral)
How it started was I was a <job> so I didn’t have time to do the shopping so he used to do the shopping then and we, we’ve just carried on really, so erm it’s
Chapter 4 Shopping Practices
115 one of the things he does…. he quite likes shopping. (Rhona; 69, married, Wales)
For three of the households in which the man is the primary food shopper, he does the majority of the cooking also, thus, shopping for food is linked to meal planning and preparation. Of the married respondents who talk about why they do not do the main food shopping together with their spouse, the main reason seems to be
differences in shopping styles:
I prefer to go on my own. I find it quicker, yes. If he’s there he’ll be looking at all the other things ((laughs)), he likes to browse. (Helen; 72, married, Wales) I just go do what I want to do and come out and that’s it. So if I go- and that’s why we don’t shop together cos I rush around the shop and get what I want and come out. So over the years she’s decided that she’d do her own. (Robert; 67, married, Wales)
The findings presented so far have shown some of the differences in shopping
practices amongst older people and that there are several factors that can affect how and why people shop the way they do. These include individual preferences and habits as well as motivations to go shopping (such as social interaction and physical activity) that extend beyond the need to purchase items.
4.4 Additional Factors Explaining Differences in Shopping Practices in Later