Household financial decision making: Qualitative research with couples

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Introduction
– we also interviewed ten couples who were in a long-term relationship; we defined this as
co-habiting couples who owned a property together, or had at least one child together.
• Ethnicity:
– the majority of couples interviewed (16) were both White British;
– one couple were both Black British;
– one or more partners in seven couples were of non-British ethnicity, originating from countries 
in Asia, South America, Continental Europe and the Caribbean.
• Location:
– we interviewed couples in a mix of urban, suburban and rural locations;
– ten of the couples interviewed were in London and the South East;
– five were in the North West;
– five were in the North East;
– four were in the Midlands.
We also considered the types of ‘significant’ financial decisions made by couples when selecting our 
participants. Significant decisions were categorised into three types: 
• The first was made up of decisions that the couples had little control over. These included one 
partner becoming unemployed, needing major repairs to their home, or one or both partners 
getting a job that paid significantly more than their previous position.
• The second comprised decisions that the couples actively chose to make. These included having 
a child, buying a new car, buying their first home, one or both partners reducing their hours with a 
view to retiring, one partner entering retirement, giving up or reducing work to care for someone 
or return to education, buying an expensive, ‘big’ holiday, or buying something for their home that 
cost a significant amount of money.
• The third consisted of decisions that were specifically financial in nature. These included one or 
both partners starting to make regular contributions towards a pension, one or both partners 
increasing or decreasing the amount they contributed, one or both partners taking out a new 
investment with a view to using it in retirement, and the couple taking out life insurance or 
income protection for the first time.
Most couples we interviewed had made what we identified as a significant financial decision in the 
last few years; however, we intentionally included some who had not made any of these decisions 
within this timeframe, in order to explore potential barriers to decision making.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most common significant decisions made were purchasing big holidays 
or a new car (ten couples). Seven couples had either entered a pension scheme or increased pension 
contributions in the last three years. Five couples had bought their first home; one had bought a 
second home. In five of the couples, one partner had experienced unemployment in the last few years.
Other significant decisions couples had made included having a baby, taking out life insurance, 
taking out income protection, taking out a new investment, reducing working hours, getting married 
and starting a new business.

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