The intersection of feminism and finances can be murky.
Some women think that everything should be split evenly. Others like to be taken for dinner every now and then. Most women are just sick of always being the one to buy toilet paper.
To be realistic, there’s no single way to be a feminist, and therefore there is no single way to manage you and your partner’s finances as a feminist. But one thing that has certainly been slapped with the ‘anti-feminist’ tag is sharing a bank account. Why?
This week, The Age published an piece on shared bank accounts that has caused quite a stir. The article by Polly Dunning, When having separate bank accounts is the opposite of independence, discusses the unfair split of expenses when a couple do not share an account. Women, says Dunning, invariably end up having to save their ‘pocket money’ from their husbands in order to buy personal items like clothes, gym, or coffee dates.
“Just last week Vanessa* posted in one of these mum groups about her ingenious ways of saving money on the weekly grocery shop,”” writes Dunning, “so she could “keep it for a rainy day and spend it on little luxuries for myself like a cup of coffee and piece of cake!”
“Vanessa’s husband transfers $200 each week into the joint account to be used on food shopping for their family of five.”
The article hit a nerve. Some people thought that Vanessa should have to save for ‘frivolous’ items, because it wasn’t her money. Others were furious, because as a full time mother Vanessa had no other income stream. The term ‘pocket money wife’ was tossed around, as both an insult and a compliment.
Top Comments
I really don't have an issue with it - zero divided by two is still zero.
I think it is important to have input into how finances are run, however you decide to work it. I don't have an income, so all our money is from my husbands salary. His money goes into one account, and according to our budget some goes into savings, we both have 'allowances' ( our weekly amounts we can spend or save as we want without discussing) and we have our bills. Any left over we discuss together what we will do with it. The problem only comes in if one person in a couple has no say or knowledge in how finances are run. My baby brother is facing that now with his divorce. All his weekly pay went straight into her account, his name isn't on any of the accounts. He doesn't know how much she earns exactly, if they have any savings, debts, anything. Even their house they bought together ( with over half the deposit coming from him) is in her name and she has made it clear that she feels entitled to the whole lot because she makes more money than he does and therefore has paid off more than him ( never mind that up until the last few weeks she received his entire paycheck and would give him a small allowance without disclosing to him what her personal expenditures were or how she managed their money). So ladies AND gents. Don't let that happen. However you decide to do things, stay informed and have a say.