1 Women, Money and the Bank

Women 54 and younger in married and de facto relationships have more separate (individual) accounts than a generation ago. They see these separate accounts as a symbol of their financial identity and a means for greater financial autonomy. Women continue to spend much of their money on the household and children. However, women in relationships feel freer to spend on themselves if they have separate accounts that hold some of their earnings. Money earned is still money owned. Women see and manage their money differently because of changes in women’s employment, the ideology of marriage, more joint home ownership, and changing patterns of relationship. There has also been the impact of greater information about accounts available through the use of information and communication technologies such as Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sales (EFTPOS), direct transfers and phone and Internet banking. In this paper we draw on a qualitative study of banking covering 79 Australians across different socio economic categories. Though financial discrimination against women was common as recently as the 1980s, most women in our contemporary sample felt no gender bias relating to credit. There appears to be some gender discrimination remaining in bank attitudes, particularly with regard to guarantees and communication between the banks and couples