Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- One Introducing the respondents
- Two Family life through an economic lens
- Three The construction, possibilities and limits of family in conditions of poverty and low income
- Four Parents and their children
- Five Wider family relationships and support
- Six Social networks and local engagement
- Seven Representing self and family
- Eight The policy context and the implications of the findings
- Nine Conclusion
- References
- Appendix A Interview schedule
- Appendix B Details of response rate and equivalisation of income
- Index
Two - Family life through an economic lens
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 March 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- One Introducing the respondents
- Two Family life through an economic lens
- Three The construction, possibilities and limits of family in conditions of poverty and low income
- Four Parents and their children
- Five Wider family relationships and support
- Six Social networks and local engagement
- Seven Representing self and family
- Eight The policy context and the implications of the findings
- Nine Conclusion
- References
- Appendix A Interview schedule
- Appendix B Details of response rate and equivalisation of income
- Index
Summary
This chapter probes the everyday reality of lives marked by the background facts presented in the last chapter. Family as a unit of expenditure and consumption will be examined in detail. In many ways, money is the leading actor in this chapter and it is treated in both an existential and factual manner. The chapter opens by first outlining how money and spending are viewed and organised and where the priorities lie in these regards. This leads to a discussion of how people organise their essential spending, especially that on utilities and food. The chapter then moves on to consider more existential elements, detailing how money is part of individual psyche and family frames of reference. Having set out how large money looms in individual and family life, the remainder of the chapter enquires into the organisation of finances, the distribution of resources and the general patterning and practices of family life in these regards. These are important in their own right, but they are especially interesting for what they reveal about the tasks and rituals associated with the maintenance and governance of family life. We learn about the main priorities of the family budget and see what the major pressure points are in terms of competing pulls on financial resources. In essence, the chapter investigates not just budgeting practices but the extent to which these are affected by relational considerations. The chapter is therefore (like all the others) a mixture of fact and orientation.
Money and need
Respondents spoke at length – and with great fluency – about how they try to make ends meet. Words such as ‘stretching’, ‘balancing’ and ‘minimising’ peppered their conversations. The evidence makes clear that money management in a situation of low income is very intense. Here is a quote from Sheila, a married mother of one child aged 14 years and another aged 20, that conveys a sense of the constant mindfulness involved:
‘You are always trying to think ahead, what you have that can be put aside. “OK, there's that and there's that.”…
You’re so conscious of trying to ensure that you’re utilising everything so that you can maximise what everyone else has.’
The following quote, from Lizzie, a lone mother with four children all aged under 17 years, gives a good sense of the mind play and resolve required.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Families and PovertyEveryday Life on a Low Income, pp. 45 - 66Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2015