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Disagreement in Australian partners’ reports of financial difficulty

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Breunig

  • Deborah Cobb-Clark
  • Xiaodong Gong
  • Danielle Venn

Abstract

We use unique data in which both partners report about household finances to demonstrate that there is often disagreement about whether the household has experienced financial difficulty in the past year. Four alternative explanations for this disagreement are tested using the data. The results indicate that disagreement may be related to the severity of the underlying material hardship rather than to gender differences or individual (as opposed to household) views of financial difficulty. We find limited evidence that for some couples information asymmetries contribute to explaining disagreement about financial difficulty. This implies that standard surveys which collect information about the household’s financial position from a representative individual may fail to completely characterize the nature of material hardship. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Breunig & Deborah Cobb-Clark & Xiaodong Gong & Danielle Venn, 2007. "Disagreement in Australian partners’ reports of financial difficulty," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 59-82, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:5:y:2007:i:1:p:59-82
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-007-9005-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Carin Cruijsen & Marie-Claire Broekhoff & Joris Knoben, 2025. "Mind the Gap: Gender Differences in Household Payment Tasks," De Economist, Springer, vol. 173(2), pages 385-424, July.
    2. Ferdi Botha & David C. Ribar & Chandana Maitra & Roger Wilkins, 2024. "The co‐occurrence of food insecurity and other hardships in Australia," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(4), pages 1319-1337, December.
    3. Merike Kukk, 2019. "Debt repayment problems: short-term and long-term implications for spending," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 715-740, June.
    4. Robert Breunig & Syed Hasan & Boyd Hunter, 2019. "Financial Stress and Indigenous Australians," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 95(308), pages 34-57, March.
    5. Ecker, Olivier & Headey, Derek D., 2012. "Improving the measurement of food security:," IFPRI discussion papers 1225, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Zhiming Cheng & Silvia Mendolia & Alfredo R. Paloyo & David A. Savage & Massimiliano Tani, 2021. "Working parents, financial insecurity, and childcare: mental health in the time of COVID-19 in the UK," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 123-144, March.
    7. Botha, Ferdi & Ribar, David C., 2023. "For worse? Financial hardships and intra-household resource allocation among Australian couples," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    8. Pedro Quintín Quílez, 2008. "Vida conyugal y desigualdades de género en Cali (Colombia)," Revista Sociedad y Economía, Universidad del Valle, CIDSE.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C42 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Survey Methods
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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