Research has demonstrated that Filipina women who manage their household’s finances independently tend to experience more instances of intimate partner violence than women who manage finances with their partners; however, these studies did not make causal statements about that association.
In a new study, Laura Cordisco Tsai, assistant professor of social work, used propensity score matching, a statistical matching technique, to determine a causal estimate of how women as financial household managers impacts their experiences with intimate partner violence. The study is published in the journal, Violence Against Women.
Women in the Philippines are seen as the “household treasurers” and manage household budgets and expenditures. According to the 2008 Philippines National Demographic and Health Survey, 29 percent of survey participants (married women) experienced intimate partner violence.
“Prior research has shown mixed results regarding the impact of economic empowerment interventions on women’s risk for intimate partner violence, with some studies showing that economic empowerment interventions heighten women’s risk for intimate partner violence and others showing that their risk for violence is reduced.” Tsai said. “This study sought to determine a causal estimate of how household financial management roles influenced instances of intimate partner violence.”
The study used data from the 1998, 2002, and 2005 Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, a community-based survey of Filipina women in metropolitan Cebu, Philippines. Data analysis showed that in 2005, 10.66 percent of women reported physical intimate partner violence in the past year. Nearly 12 percent (11.94 percent) of women who managed household finances independently experienced intimate partner violence compared to 8.79 percent of women who managed household finances jointly with their partners.
“The regression results revealed that, with all other variables constant, managing the household finances independently significantly increased the severity of physical violence women experienced, when compared to women who managed household finances jointly with their partners,” Tsai said. “Interventions aiming to empower women economically must address control structures affecting the use of household finances, as well as family and gender roles regarding day-to-day management of household financial resources. These results demonstrate the need for further qualitative research and for strategies to help families share household financial management responsibilities without increasing women’s risk of experiencing intimate partner violence.”