A new study shows that women really do rule the roost at home: in finances, how to spend leisure time and even what shows to watch on TV. And the men don't seem to mind at all.
Around the house, women rule. And men aren't putting up a fight about it, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center that looks at how gender and power play out at home.
Of 1,260 couples surveyed this summer, women wield more decision-making power at home. In 43 percent of couples, women made more decisions -- almost twice as many as men -- in the four areas surveyed: planning weekend activities, household finances, major home purchases and TV watching.
*****
The survey also found 43 percent of men don't have the final say in any of those decisions; they either share decision-making or defer to their partners.
"Across all decision-making realms, it tilts to the woman," said Rich Morin, the study's lead author. "I was surprised by the percentage of men who made none of the decisions in any of the areas."
Said Melinda Forthofer, director of the Institute for Families in Society at the University of South Carolina-Columbia, "Despite the fact that in our society, we have had this notion of males as heads of households, we have seen the pattern that women tend to really be the managers."
On household finances, the Pew study found about 45 percent of women say that they manage the money; 37 percent of men say they do.
Older couples are more likely than younger couples to make decisions together, the study found, but just 8 percent of couples overall say they make decisions together in all four areas.
This comports with what most of our married friends say. But we're kind of wondering about the true implications of this study. Yes, women have a lot of decision making power for the family and that's good. But other studies show that women still do much more of the housework, even if they work at a full-time job.
If a man marries a woman who likes to do the same things he does, likes the same kind of leisure activities and the same kind of food he does, well, why shouldn't he let her handle all the arrangements? We're not sure what happens with the couples where one spouse makes all the decisions and the other spouse disagrees with those decisions. Perhaps that's the 50% of marriages that end in divorce.
