Temporality and the meaning of social security money within households

Summers, Kate; Young, David

Abstract

The relationship between the temporal aspects of social security policy and intra-household dynamics is under-explored. Temporal aspects of policy, including benefit waiting periods and payment frequency, affect the money management within households, influencing, for example, household decision-making. Policy shapes these intra-household dynamics explicitly and, in turn, households’ decisions about money have temporal dimensions. Money as it relates to time also has important experiential and relational features. Drawing on international literature, with a particular focus on the United Kingdom (UK) and United States, we consider the temporal aspects of policy that can shape how money is dealt with within households, and how this temporality might best be investigated methodologically. We do this by reviewing this literature but also by considering a UK-based research project using diary-based methods to examine the micro-dynamics of time and money and finally by offering ways forward for studying temporality and social security money within households.

Citation

Summers, K., & Young, D. (2024). Temporality and the meaning of social security money within households. In F. Bennett, S. Avram, & S. Austen (Eds.), A Research Agenda for Financial Resources within the Household (241-254). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802204001

• Publication Date: Jan 18, 2024
• Deposit Date: Feb 15, 2024
• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
• Pages: 241-254
• Book Title: A Research Agenda for Financial Resources within the Household
• Chapter Number: 15
• ISBN: 9781802203998
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802204001
• Keywords: Temporality; social security policy; household finances; waiting; payment period; expenditure patterns
• Publisher URL: https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781802204001/book-part-9781802204001-25.xml