Browsing by Author "Pihkala, Ulla"

Home economics is a multidisciplinary field of study which is interested in studying issues related to families and the well-being of the household. According to the familistic concept, the family is a unit that comes before everything else. However, families with two living standards differ from this ideal, as they emphasize more individualistic features and are the focus in this research. It is known from previous studies that the uneven distribution of financial resources within the family can cause differences in well-being among family members and at the same time lead to conflicts and dissatisfaction. Data for the research was collected by publishing an invitation in Facebook to join a survey in early spring 2023. It was open for three weeks. 96 people replied. The respondents were asked to tell in their own words what kind of emotions the two different living standards evoke in them and how it manifests itself in their everyday life and well-being. Majority of those who responded to the invitation to write were women. The narratives written by the respondents were analyzed using theory-driven content analysis. Allardt's different dimensions of well-being: having, loving, doing, being, and the objective and subjective indicators derived from them by Martela were used as a reference. According to the results, there were a large amount of negative emotions such as anxiety, unfairness, inferiority and shame in families of two living standards. The feelings remained the same, regardless of whether the respondent was a member with a lower income, a higher income or a member who offered the child's perspective. In addition to negative emotions, the well-being of families was weakened by many other things. By analyzing the stories, 24 subcategories were created, which told their own story about how the different living standards affected a family. Subcategories were created under each dimension of well-being. For example, the “having” dimension can be connected to being left out of society's support networks and the fear of intergenerational transmission, and the “loving” dimension, on the other hand, can be connected to a lack of appreciation and emotional violence. Weak opportunities for self-realization can be associated with the “doing” dimension and mental health challenges with the “being” dimension. This study increases the understanding of families with two different living standards. In these families, the person in a better financial position has more power to decide on family matters. At worst, there could be indications of financial and emotional violence in the families. The phenomenon affects more women, because of the structures of society. Women tend often bear the responsibility of caring for their children and the expenses incurred by them. Based on the research, however, it can be concluded that family members should also bear responsibility for each other's financial prosperity, as it impacts all areas of well-being.