Household financial decision making: Qualitative research with couples

1.4.2 
Target audience
As the research focused on how couples make financial decisions, particularly about retirement, we 
required at least one partner in every couple to be in paid employment. While we did not specify 
that a number of individuals should definitely be within the scope of automatic enrolment, we 
stipulated that each participant still in paid employment must earn a minimum of £7,500 before 
tax, so that they would potentially be within scope.

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8
Introduction
We spoke to a range of couples, ensuring that different age groups, household income bands and 
relationship types were represented in the research. Additionally, the mix of participants allowed
us to explore differences in views and behaviours by sub-group.
Recruitment criteria used
The project team used the following criteria to recruit couples for this research:
• Employment status:
– of the 24 couples that we spoke to, half (12 couples) were both working full-time;
– in seven couples, one partner was in full-time employment and the other in part-time 
employment;
– in a small number of couples (three), one partner was fully retired;
– in one couple, one partner was on maternity leave, and in another one partner was unemployed;
– in total, 22 couples included one or more individuals who were within the scope of automatic 
enrolment. There were two couples where neither partner was eligible.
• Household income:
– household income was a key consideration, because the types of financial decisions couples 
make depend to some extent on their income and wealth;
– the definition of income we used included all earned income received annually by both partners 
before tax, as well as any benefits or income from maternity or paternity leave, or from a 
pension. Using this definition:
– two couples earned under £20,000;
– eight couples earned between £20,000 and £35,000;
– 11 couples earned between £35,000 and £44,999;
– three couples earned £45,000 or more.
• Age:
– we anticipated age, or life stage, to have an influence on couples’ financial decision making and 
retirement planning, so it was important to cover a spread of age groups;
– five couples were in their 20s;
– seven couples were in their 30s;
– seven couples were in their 40s;
– three couples were in their 50s;
– two couples were in their 60s;
– two of the couples comprised partners with an age gap of ten years or more.
• Marital status:
– we interviewed 12 couples who were married;
– nine of these couples had been married for over two years, while three had been married for 
less than two years;
– two couples were in civil partnerships;

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