Financial Disagreements and Money Management Among Older Married and Cohabiting Couples in Sweden

Abstract

This study investigates how partners’ money management strategies are associated with the experience of financial disagreements among older couples (60–80 years old). Money management is a broad concept, and this study operationalizes whether the partners pool all money, the partners pool some money, one partner manages the money (and gives a share to the other partner for personal spending), or the partners keep all money separate. The data comprise a subsample from the Swedish Generations and Gender Survey from 2012 to 2013. The descriptive statistics show that 11% of older couples experience financial disagreements and that there is a large variation in how couples manage their money. Contrary to our expectations, logistic regression analyses further indicate that couples who pool all money are less likely to have financial disagreements than couples who either keep all money separate or adopt a lower degree of pooling. Whether some or all money is kept separate does not seem to be important for the likelihood of financial disagreements, as all these couples are more likely to experience disagreements. Among couples with financial hardship, partial pooling and keeping money separate are associated with a higher likelihood of financial disagreements than pooling all money. In conclusion, the greater probability of financial disagreements among couples who do not pool their earnings calls for greater awareness of the potential consequences of various money management contexts among individuals, couples, decision-makers and practitioners. In the worst cases, couples may have poor financial wellbeing.

Relationship satisfaction and money pooling among older working and retired couples in Sweden

“…Earlier research has shown that money organization is related to many dimensions of relationship quality (e.g., LeBaron et al, 2019). For example, in Sweden, older couples who pool all money seldom report financial disagreements (Kridahl & Duvander, 2023), and in the United States, joint bank accounts have been shown to relate to stronger feelings of intimacy (Addo & Sassler, 2010). To fully understand how older individuals' and their partners' status as working or being retired relate to relationship satisfaction, we need to consider whether partners pool household money (Dew, 2008).…”

“…Allocation of partners' money may thus be of greater importance for relationship quality. However, not all older couples pool all of their money; often, they pool part of their money (Kridahl & Duvander, 2023; for younger couples, see, e.g., Evans & Gray, 2021; Lim & Morgan, 2021).…”

“…Compared to other strategies, pooling couples often decide together on expenditures and the allocation of money (Pahl, 2000; Vogler & Pahl, 1993). Depending on how much money the partners pool, they may make more or less positive assessments of the relationship (Kridahl & Duvander, 2023; Lundberg & Pollak, 1996; Woolley, 2003). To conclude, as both a predictor of and result of relationship commitment and stability, couples' money pooling strategies may weaken the importance of relative resources (Woolley, 2003) or couple's gendered practices (West & Zimmerman, 1987).…”