Household financial decision making: Qualitative research with couples

2.3.1 
Alpha and beta roles
Alpha partners took the most responsibility for household finances. In general, this person was more 
closely involved in the day-to-day running of the home than their partner, and by extension, closer 
to the household bills and used to dealing with them. Alpha partners usually referred to a range 
of sources when they needed financial information or advice, and were the more likely to have a 
relationship with a professional financial adviser. 
‘I think I’m more confident … He’s quite laid back. He probably wouldn’t do anything. [If it was 
up to him to decide] We wouldn’t have a holiday. We wouldn’t have a car. We’d just sit in the 
house all day.’
(Kelly, 20s, North East)

---

15
Attitudes to financial decision making
With some couples, there was a sense that the handling of financial income and outgoings had 
given the alpha partner a degree of financial confidence, relative to their partner. In spite of this 
confidence, alpha partners tended to say that they felt stressed by managing the household 
finances, and perhaps as a consequence, the majority thought of themselves as savers, rather
than spenders. Overall, they were more long-term in their thinking than their beta counterparts. 
With their partners taking a greater degree of control, those fulfilling the beta role took on less 
financial responsibility, and were reluctant to increase this. Some in beta roles explained that 
they were away from the couple’s home more often than their partners because of their working 
arrangements, while others were explicit about their lack of interest, or even their laziness. 
‘She’s the boss […] I don’t mind it really. Sometimes I don’t like it, but she does a good job.’
(William, 30s, South East)
In general, these individuals had less financial confidence than their alpha partner. Several beta 
partners described a specific financial responsibility, such as car insurance, or small purchases for the 
home, that suggested they had a well-defined comfort zone. Beta partners were often more inclined 
to spend money than to save it, usually short-termist in their financial thinking and, compared with 
the alpha partners, relatively relaxed about the household finances. If they consulted sources of 
financial advice, these were often informal sources, such as friends, family and colleagues. 
There was a gender pattern, with women somewhat more likely to be the alpha partner, and men 
the beta partner; this is reflected in how both partners approach the financial decision-making 
process, which we will explore in Section 2.3.2. Our interviews with two same-sex couples indicate 
that in these households, the same roles emerged, with one partner demonstrating typically ‘alpha’ 
behaviours and the other partner showing ‘beta’ behaviours. 
The more the alpha partners took charge of the household finances, the more entrenched this 
behaviour became for these individuals, causing them to ‘stay close’ and continue to scrutinise the 
couple’s circumstances, their incomings and outgoings. This allowed the beta partners to keep their 
distance from the household’s finances: none indicated that they would like a greater degree of 
involvement, and all seemed happy to allow their partner to continue in the alpha role.