Money and power in Saudi family

الملخص EN

What determines power in the family? Many studies have suggested that the division of labor in the family has contributed to the subordination of women.

Traditionally, men have made more money and have had more power in families, while some women have depended solely on their husbands for financial support.

However, many women today are working as much as men and making a good deal of money.

As women bring more money into the home, they are expected to feel more free to make decisions about what the couple does with money. This paper argues that, the patriarchal tradition in Saudi family is in transition, men are tending to share power and responsibility with women, in particular those women who contribute to the financial needs of the family.

However, the Saudi family remains patriarchal and hierarchical in structure.

The aim of this paper is to discuss the following questions : Are resources shared equally within a family ? What are the different systems of money management? Is there a relationship between the system of money management and the power individuals have in decision-making ? What is the relationship between money and power in the Saudi family? This paper draws on data collected randomly from the city of Jeddah, the sample consists of 160 working women in different workplaces with an effort to represent different work professions and level of income.

The study has shown that the majority of working couples follow individualized bank accounts, the majority of the women have come to share financial family responsibility through prior agreement with the husbands and the majority of the respondents has separate future arrangements and therefore, individualized saving accounts.

Women seem to have to cover with their share of the household financial responsibilities almost everything from clothes, food, school expenses, salaries, and holidays to installments to bank and / or Car Company.

Paid work has also given women the opportunity to take part in the household decision-making, the majority of working women participate with their husbands in making decisions regarding their families' daily and future lives, that is financial management or implementation power while men still posses strategic control or orchestration power.

Finally, almost 60 percent of the respondents feel that working women are better off than nonworking women when it comes to power and decision-making.