The role of gender dynamics in decisions on credit and debt in low income families

This paper discusses the role of gender dynamics in the experiences of credit and debt in low income families in the UK, drawing on a qualitative longitudinal study funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. It builds on earlier work on: the household economy; the gendered distribution of income specifically within low income families in receipt of benefits; and the extent of credit and debt in the UK currently. Following critiques of traditional sociological and social psychological analyses of the household economy, it takes a more discursive approach, which enables identification of gender dynamics as one of the mechanisms through which decision-making in relation to this area of practice is accomplished.