Behind the negotiations: Financial decision-making processes in Spanish dual-income couples

This article focuses on how dual-income heterosexual couples make financial decisions. Dual-income households have increased considerably in the last three decades in most developed countries. The study was based in Spain and involved qualitative interviews with couples, with each couple interviewed together and separately. This innovative technique allows researchers to study financial decision-making processes and to detect gender inequalities that may appear during negotiations. Analysis of decision making among the couples in the sample provides evidence that, despite claims of equality, not all decisions are negotiated or made by consensus. On the contrary, decisions are often the consequence of established social norms, and, frequently, there are issues that couples exclude from negotiation.