Economics in Action

Sheila C. Bair, who chairs the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), has another string to her bow: she’s the author of Isabel’s car wash, a children’s book in which little Isabel borrows money and washes cars so she can buy a doll.

It’s not every day you see a children’s book taken apart for its assumptions about consumer behaviour and the private sector, but that’s just what reviewer Glenn Fleishman does, with tongue somewhat in cheek. Fleishman seems exasperated that plenty of adults’ understanding of money and markets is no more sophisticated than Isabel’s Car Wash, and that some of those adults have responsible jobs.

Single women in Britain spend an average of 10 hours a week on housework whereas single men only spend 7 hours a week. But as soon as men and women form a union, women tend to spend more time on housework an average of 15 hours a week whereas men react in the opposite direction, falling to 5 hours a week.

Differences like this in spouses spending of time and money mean that on average, women obtain only 40% of a couples wellbeing.

These are among the findings of new research by Helene Couprie, published in the latest Economic Journal. Her research, which draws on data from the British Household Panel Survey, also finds that such gender inequalities within the household have a significant influence on gender inequalities in the workplace and vice versa.

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