Financial management attitudes and behaviour of husbands and wives

In spite of recent economic events which suggest that families are having much difficulty managing their financial resources, little research has focused on spouses' attitudes and behaviour regarding family financial management. This study addressed three questions: (1) What are spouses' attitudes toward and behaviour regarding family financial management? (2) To what degree do husbands and wives agree in their attitudes and report similar behaviour regarding financial management? and (3) What factors effect the attitudes and behaviour of spouses regarding management of their financial resources? While spouses' attitudes were generally supportive of family resource management principles and philosophy regarding financial management, their reported behaviour indicated relatively few families acted on their beliefs. Correlations between husbands' and wives' attitudinal and behavioural scores were positive and statistically significant; however, the modest coefficients indicated much room for disagreement between spouses regarding family management. The family characteristics which were the best predictors of positive financial management attitudes and effective behaviour included: number of years married; completion of a course in consumer education by a spouse; and occupational status of wives.