FAMILY FINANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 29, 4 February 1928, Page 4 (Supplement)

FAMILY FINANCE.

WOMEN'S IGNORANCE,

NEED FOR MUTUAL 4 UNDERSTANDING. -

(By LA VIEILLE.|I

"Women are fundamentally iaeapa]£g~ * of niidersta.ii ding money declared a man upon reading aa * - in which it was urged that should have an equal voice in Qa I posal of the family income, ft prising what a large number of New Zealand still hold this opiiam «f women's mental inferiority. Whatfc— come in contact with women who m. their capacity for business, they ' in regarding them as exceptions. It is true that in this eomrfry woman who is bringing up moderate sized family has little fe«n r sustained mental effort. TTnn^fa^ is at once so scarce and so "ntrrt£" that in many cases the wife ahoolfcn.the heavy part of the family i The drudgery of the house and " mands of young children wear her physically and mentally. Bhe fa ally too tired to think beyond Ui dar'or the morrow. Thought for the Fotsm The fear of the future man 4fML haunts the thoughts of the fathrt at fa family. If anything were to happa him, what would become of his wife aad ' children? To answer this queitiae h takes out a life polity, but t&e far hundreds so covered fall far Ant at the capital sum needed to replace , salary which will cease with hii dectk. . The thought of illness and r is often a greater dread than W [ death, for there would then be bo ian» ance to provide for doctor's hill# aad fta accompanying unemployment.- Strayto say, the majority of men keep tbaai fears to themselves. To talk tbe ■attvover with their wives seema to ttn almost a form of cowardice. "Bead* what's the good? She woulda't udo» stand. She is always grumbling tint I keep her short of money, aad afc would think £ was only trying to frighten her."

This argument shows a ooncepttaa d the fellowship of the marriage state which is alike derogatory to and wife. ,

Do women deliberately drat their to this side of the problem of doaeetie finance. While they are duKwrin hf" equal economic rights with w, an they, at the same time, preparing themselves to shoulder the greater rafeaa* bilitv that that equality entails?.

The majority of men in t.hi« eunaliy are wage-earners, and as sneh an liiMs at any time to the vicissitudes of Ok ness or loss of employment. Mas? women, it seems, are unable to stand the difference between aa income of £500 a year derived from sonad securities and a salary of the sua amount. A man's earning power it at its highest point for a few yean «Jy. At the very time when his energies aa beginning to slacken, greater deminib are being made upon him by his family. The bursary system is often responsible for keeping at the University youths ef nineteen and twenty whose father! should be by that time in a great measure freed from their upkeep. lastead, the provision of books and etotV ing for them is a large item in the family expenditure. In too maay eases the advantages thus given are frittered away and in the end a belated cler:sln| is the result of years of Mghsr educative This is but one instinc* <4 the increasing demands modern ISe makes upon the father of to-day.

It is not possible for the avenga--wage-earner to provide against all tic uncertainties of the future. In cases, if he is taken from thfia, M wife and young children most dcjMiupon the assistance given by the Stifr to widows and orphans. A house, jßfljl " paid for, and a few hundreds of uaur> ance, is the best provision he eu wh for them, save in one respect, uliA he is inclined to overlook. Mutual Confidences He will not be acting wisely if hi refrains from placing clearly before til wife the position in which she and children will be if she is left a wiAif*, with the sole responsibilities of Bang those few hundreds to the best adnata ge. He will, I hope, be surprised aii pleased to find that his wife is capable of understanding his a£»W and, at least, she will not donbt ita disinterestedness. He will find, too, tJut such talks as these will cause a feeling of mutual confidence and revert to spring up between them, which *31 do much towards sweetening their together. There are doubtless women who, a* being given control of large sums °* money, act most foolishly. Case 3 *hae the whole amount has been wastedja * few months on expensive clothes, fnna* ture, or long holiday trips are frequent. If you were aisle to hivesfr gate all such cases, however, yon wonli generally find that the women*ed»ihaw behaved so foolishly were mostly those who had had no previous experW*e® handling money and who seem* w. ** obsessed with a madness to haw * "good time." regardless of the futnf®* Only too frequently the capital so® is placed in a bank and drawn Up®* from time to time for what seems.to I® good purposes, quite forgetful of thelaj* that such money cannot be replaced ai# that there may come a day when fOt® a sum would save the family froHtWSaster. There are not wanting advisers who persuade the widow to f®» her capital into some unsound i ment that promises a big return. chance of increasing her small capi is one that oilers special and one to which many men tlieffiseiv succumb. Is it surprising that an®? pericnct-d woman r-hould be canguv iff such allurin-' bait ?

The Wise Husband. Remembering that liis wife will to face >ueh at a time . she is distraught with gTief and anxiety for iLe future, the wise . band will take care to warn her such pitfalls. If fce^ some arrangement with a tnisus" to act a? her adviser. Such P* ov , . ■ for the future will not shorten as some ruen to fear, and it jmai serve to relieve some of his anxiety for his beloved ones. a the Summing it up. mutual trust sharing of responsibility __ basis of all financial relations husband and wife. omen some wonderful things in 4 fetgtß and this elf- Tl !o put liie nu !' l T? a ®| s j,pt on a fooling financially bev<»id 1 . h<A ro<-n realise • lia\ c iiu! had a fair chance aad will clear iii-cii. We will no long §ucli statements as opened, this _ .