• >•

31.

EDUCATION AND CHANGE:  THE DOMESTIC  SYSTEM

OF AN URBAN  ELITE)

by C. Oppong*

This  paper  Is the outcome of an attempt  to document and
analyse a number of measurable social  facts about  the married
life of a set of urban  'elite1 couples  in Accra.2 
The main
focus of  the study was  the conjugal  division of  labour and the
provision and allocation of  income - that  Is how these urban
husbands and wives used  their  time and money  In providing for
the domestic  needs of themselves, their children and kin.  In
particular  one  line of enquiry was  to examine the extent to
which conjugal  relationships were Joint, wives assisting hus-
bands  in the task of earning and managing  family  income and
husbands helping wives  In assuming  some responsibility  for
chores and child-care, - a subject which has engaged  the
attention  of a number of recent writers on the conjugal  family
elsewhere, and at the same time to assess the extent to which
the conjugal  family was a functTonally  discrete or closed
domestic unit.  (For a detailed  discussion of these two vari-
ables Jointness/segregation  and openness/closure  see Oppong
1971 cT.

The sample of couples for study was selected  from among
Senior Civil  Servants and  their wives  living  in Accra.  Most
of  the husbands and wives  in the study were newcomers  to urban
•elite1  living.  Very few of their own  parents were  profession-
als or senior administrators  and the majority, being Akan and

* 

Mrs. Christine Oppong  Is a Research Fellow  In Social
Anthropology.

1.  The original  version of this paper was presented at the
Annual  Conference of the Ghana Sociological  Association,
April  1972.

2.  The field work on which  this paper  Is based was carried out
In Accra  In 1967-68.  The data  Is taken from a wider  study
of conjugal  relationships  among a sector of the Ghanaian
elite; a study which  formed  part of a cross-cultural
research enterprise,  in which  the  Institute of African
Studies collaborated with  the Department of Social Anthro-
pology, Edinburgh.  The whole  project was supported  by the
S.S.R.C. and headed  by Professor K. Little to whom  grateful
thanks are due.

32.

Ewe, were  immigrants,  in the sense that their home-towns were
some thirty  to three-hundred miles away from Accra.  Separated
from most of their kin, who  In the customary  rural  setting
would  be  likely to share with  them many of their  domestic
and economic  rights and duties, they were thrust  Into a
position of being more apt  to need to rely upon  their spouses,
who now, for some contrary  to tradition,  lived with  them.  And
frequent occasions of domestic need were noted  in the city -
husbands without  enough money  to pay for extra household needs
at  the end of  the month, wives under stress as they tried to
be simultaneously mothers, workers and housewives  -  sometimes
with  inadequate responsible help  in the home.

The striking  point  to the observer, and one which may

have hitherto delayed  the detailed  documentation  of urban
Ghanaian  family relationships  is the point well made by Bott
(1957)  In her study of twenty London  families - that  is each
one  is likely to be very different  In one or more ways from
the rest of  the families observed, even  if major  variables
such as ethnicity, age group, occupational  status and so on
are held constant.  And  this was  in fact borne out  In the
present  study, where  the underlying similarities  in the modes
of  structuring  rights and obligations between  spouses and kin
ate. were not  immediately obvious, but only began to emerge
after  hours of  fact collecting  and discussion  and  the examina-
tion of survey as well  as case study data.

Secondly  tension, conflict, dissatisfaction  and change

were  found  to be frequent  themes, running  through the con-
versations and  interviews.  But  in restrospect we realize
that  this was  to be expected  in a context of such revolution-
ary social  and economic change.  We are told for  instance
that even  in the  last decade, the sixties, the population of
Accra has doubled and we know that  it was only within  this
same period  that  the very Senior Civil  Servants under study
reached  their present numbers.  Obviously  In such a novel
situation  a restructuring of domestic rights and obligations
fs taking place, the crux of which  Is the decision-making
process.  How are such  Individuals deciding  to allocate and
use their finite resources  in time and money  in this new
situation?  What  proportion of their  incomes  is being spent
on which sets of family members?  In what ways are husbands
and wives cooperating  to form a viable domestic unit  in an
Acer* sub-urban house?  In what areas are changes most obvious
or differences observable  In sub-groups of a relatively homo-

4*1

33.

geneous sample?  These are some of  the many  questions which
need  to be considered  - we can only deal with one or  two here.

First of all  the sample chosen, one of one hundred and

eighty married  Senior  Civil  Servants working  in government
Institutions  in Accra  is conspicious  for  its high  level of
formal  education.  And  it  is upon  the question of  levels and
generations of education  that  I intend to focus  in this paper.
We have previously  discussed  some of the effects of  generations
of education  on  prescribed  norms  for behaviour  between  spouses
and kin among a sample of highly educated young  people  (Oppong
1970 a ), and have noted  several  of  the writers who have pointed
out  the effects of  levels and  periods of education  upon West
African  family  life such as Lloyd  (1966:30) and  Caldwell
<1968:107,  180).  Here the effects of  the husband's  generation
of education  are considered  - that  is whether  his own  father
and grandfather went  to school; and also his wife's  level of
education  - whether  elementary, vocational  or higher.  An
attempt will  be made  to correlate  these  independent  educational
variables with apparent  differences  in modes of domestic organi-
zation, both  in the content of  the husband-wife  relationship
and  the relationship of the husband  to his kin.

But before we can go on to do this - to look at  variations

We need  to outline  briefly  the broad  patterns or norms of
domestic  organization  among  the people selected  for discussion.

First of all  the sample  itself was composed  of men who

were mainly  In their  thirties, some  in their  twenties and
forties  and all  employed  in senior  posts as professionals or
administrators  In government  departments  in Accra.  About half
had  travelled abroad  in the course of getting a higher education.
Nearly one quarter  came from Accra and most of the rest from
southern  villages or  towns.  The three main ethnic  groups
represented were  the Akan* Ga and  Ewe and  the majority  had
wives of similar origins.  They were divided  fairly equally
Into first, second and  third  generation  educated.  Only a
quarter of  their  fathers  had  secondary  school  or college
education.  Nearly  seventy  per cent had a registered  marriage
and nearly all claimed  to belong  to one of the Christian
denominations.  Most of  their wives worked  full-time  outside
the home - many as nurses, teachers and clerks.  Most of  them

had  started  to have children  In the same twelve month  period
as  their marriage. 

•

Domestic  Organisation

What  of  the organization  of  family maintenance and care?
How did  these couples, most of whom Were both salaried  employ-
ees cope with  the various needs of  their dependent  children
and  kin.  For nearly 60% were educating  1-6 children of  their
own  and  the same proportion were educating  1-6 relatives1
children  and almost  all  had requests  put  to them for  financial
help of one kind or another  from kin and over ninety  percent
sent  regular  or sporadic  sums of money  to provide  for relatives'
needs.

First of all  family maintenance - this was not  the sole
responsibility  of husbands  - most wives were also contributing
money  quite extensively  to provide  for  the material  needs of
the household,  especially  for  Items such as clothes, food and
domestic  labour.  What  of ownership and management  of  property
and money?  Of  those - almost  a half-claiming  to own  property
of  some kind, such as a house or  land, jointly with  some one -
twice as many  (37%) held  such  property  jointly with  their kin
as with  their wives  (18%).  Only a small  minority of couples
had joint  bank accounts and many of  the husbands of working
wives  claimed  to have no  idea as to how they  spent  their  income.
The overall  picture drawn as regards  finances  is one  in which
only a small  minority of couples  have what we may classify  as
a  Joint  relationship, managing  a single domestic  budget  together,
in which  they  pool  all  their  resources, each knowing  how the
other  Is spending money, and owning  property  together and
managing  a bank account  jointly.  Rather we find  that  the
majority  are earning  and  spending  incomes over which  their
partners have  relatively  little control  or knowledge, though
they  both usually  share  the burden  of  financial  responsibility
for  the  household.

In fact  the matter of  the mode of spending and  saving
income  is not  infrequently  a vexed question  in the home and
the opinions of men and women  differ as  to what  should  be done.
Women  expect  and  try to earn, save and manage  their own
separate  incomes, whereas men  are more  ready  to favour  joint
use of  it.  This  situation  is sometimes quite gladly  accepted
by both who see  it as a mechanism  of  tension  avoidance  in a

35.

situation where both are making use of their money  in ways
which would not entirely  please their spouses.  Frequently
lack of communication  In this matter breeds distrust.  But
this may be preferable to open conflict.  We have shown
elsewhere that  this pattern of financial  segregation  tends
to be more marked among couples from areas  In which matrl-
1ineal descent and  inheritance are the norm and demonstrated
that  it often serves the purpose actors ascribe to  It, that
is  it serves as a mode of conflict avoidance  in situations
in which spouses1  views differ as to how their monies should
be spent - especially with regard  to the amount of money spent
on relatives outside the conjugal  family or the Joint or
Individual  ownership of property  (Oppong  1969, 1971 a ).

Next what of chores - the division of domestic  labour?

Perhaps  the main point  is the extent of the delegation of
tasks  to junior  relatives and resident employed helpers.
Nearly all wives have some such assistance  in their domestic
work and only a few women are full-time housewives and mothers.
As  regards husbands  the only regular  part they appear to play
Is  in store-shopping.  Few play an active or major  role In
such  tasks as washing,  tidying  the home or child-care.  Here
again ethnic differences have been shown to exist between on
the one hand couples coming  from areas  in which duolocality
af spouses  in the norm and  lineage - based households are
common  and on  the other couples coming from areas  in which
spouses coreside  in conjugal  famMy  - based domestic groups.
Thus  the Ewe husbands reported  that they did significantly
more chores  than husbands from other areas  ( P«£. .02)
a difference which  is presumably  the result of continuations
of traditional  patterns  (Oppong,  1972).

The third and perhaps most  Important aspect of con-
jugal  relations  for consideration  Is that of the ways In
which husbands and wives  take decisions, which has already
been shown  In this and other  studies to be  Inextricably
1 inked with modes of  financial  organisation and task per-
formance  (Oppong,  1970 b ).  In the present sample over half
of the husbands  (52%) claimed to discuss  issues with their
wives before deciding what  to do; 29% said husband and wife
usually decided  things separately.  Only  12% of husbands
claimed  that they made all  the main; »decIs Ions.

fcJS-

>**

36.

Education and  Change

We may now examine these areas of activities - financial

provision, financial  management, chore performance an4 deci-
sion-making,  to see whether there are significant  differences
in modes of domestic organization  associated with  levels and
generations of education of the husband and wife and  if so
what  kinds of differences.

Husband's  Origin

We will  deal  first with  the question of the husband's

family of origin - whether  he had educated or  illiterate
forebears and aspects of his relationships with kin.  We
shall  examine this data to see whether  there  is a significant
diminution  of responsibilities  towards and a decrease in
Joint holding of rights with, - extra-nuclear  kin, with
successive generations of education.  This we shall  measure
in terms of education of relatives' children, Joint owner-
ship of property with kin and  the extent of demands for
financial  help.  Thus  there  is evidence  that a greater
proportion of sons of  Illiterate fathers have frequent
demands  put to them for help - 37% as compared with 25%
(Table  1); that they are more likely to have shares  in Joint
properties with  their kin  than with their wives 49% as
compared  with 23% (Table 2); and  that  In every ethnic group
the number  of children of  relatives educated  decreases with
successive generations of'education  -those whose  fathers
and grandfathers went  to school  bearing an appreciably
lighter  financial  burden of this kind  (see Oppong  1969,
Table 4 ).  Thus there are noticeable differences  in hus-
bands' relationships with  their kin correlated with whether
or not  they are first or second generation  educated.

What of the conjugal  relationships?  Are there

measurable differences  In degrees of jolntness  in various
aspects of behaviour  associated with the husband's gene-
ration of education.  Taking  the population as a whole
there  is no positive correlation  between degree, of joint-
ness  in the area of spending  the wife's  income, household
chore  performance or decision-making, between  those whose
fathers are  illiterate and  those whose fathers are  literate
(Tables 3 8- k).  We must  look elsewhere for the  important
independent  variables associated with such differences.

37.

Financial  provision, saving and  property ownership however,
appear  to be more .among couples  in which  the husband's
father  received  an education.  Thus 47% of  those with
literate fathers as compared with  38% of those with  illite-
rate fathers  provide Jointly for  the material  needs of the
household  (i.e. wife scores 4-7 on wife's financial  parti-
cipation  index - see appendix).  While  16% and 23% with
literate fathers save and own  property  jointly as compared
with 6% and  12% respectively, of couples  in which  the hus-
bands' fathers are  illiterate,  Whon  a financial  management
index  Is used  combining  attributes such as joint  saving,
owning and  spending  the correlation  is not  statistically
significant, but  It  is  in the expected  direction  (see Table 5 ).
There  is also a slight  tendency  for  increasing closure In
financial  matters, that  is a cutting down on the economic
obligations  to kin  to be associated with a high degree of
jolntness  in the financial  aspect of the conjugal  relation-
ship  (see Tables 6 & 7 ).  However  the separation of husbands'
and wives' financial  activities  and  resources cannot, merely
be explained  in terms of, the more open are financial
relationships of the conjugal  family  the  less Joint the
conjugal  relationship  in this respect, for  the data show
that couples are found who fall  Into each  possible type of
combination  of financial  relationships.  But as we have
demonstrated  elsewhere  fewer Akan  than non-Akan couples fall
into the conflict-prone category of open/joint with respect
to financial  management  (Oppong  1969, 1971 a ).

Wife's  Educational  Level

We  turn next  to the apparent effects of the wife's

educational  level  upon  the jointness of the conjugal
relationship  in  its several  aspects.  Many  previous  studies
elsewhere, as for  instance the  interesting  study by Blood
and Wolfe  (I960), have shown  that decision-making  and  the
division of  labour  between  husbands and wives are  likely to
be  influenced  to a considerable extent  by the couple's  levels
of education  in relation  to each other.  There  is  in this
case evidence  that wives with post-elementary education,
(who are  in better  paid jobs) are making  relatively  greater
financial  contributions  to the household  expenditure than
wives with only elementary education, many of whom are not
employed  and  this applies  to all  ethnic groups.  Thus such
couples have a more joint mode of financial  provision.

38.

-5*

The difference  is significant  at the  .1 percent  level
(see Table 8 ).  Moreover  the former,  (that  Is the more
highly educated wives) are also more  likely to be spending
their  incomes jointly with  their husbands  (a difference
significant at the one percent  level)  (see Table 9); and
also more  likely to be holding  joint bank accounts with
them, for  three times as many wives with higher education
have such joint accounts with  their husbands as those
with  lower  levels of education  (see Table 10).

So much for joint financial  provision and joint

management; what of decision making?  Again  the evidence
is quite clear.  It is wives with  vocational  and secondary
school education who have the greatest proportion of
syncratic  relationships with  regard  to decision-making and
the smallest  proportion of relationships we may label
autonomic or husband-dominated  (Oppong, 1970 b ).  (A differ-
ence significant at  the  1 per eent  level  yv  • 6.78. P<Cot*.
df =  1).  This correlation  fits quite logically with the
previous finding  regarding the financial  contribution of
educated wives, because  in numerous studies  it has been
demonstrated  that where wives are working and contributing
to household expenditure their role  in the decision-making
process  is enhanced.  In this particular case we can show
quite convincingly  that  the size of the wife's financial
contribution and mode of decision-making are correlated
(at  least using husbands' reports of those two factors)
(see Ta.ble 11).

Thus  the evidence points towards greater jolntness

in the financial  and decision-making aspects of the conjugal-
role relationship when  the husbands' and wives' educational
levels are more nearly similar.  This  is not the case however
with regard  to performance of household chores.

Type of Marriage Contract

A further point  is that generation and  level of

education of husband and wife respectively are also
correlated with  the type of marriage contract the couple
enter - that  is more second and  third generation educated
husbands and more higher educated wives have had their
marriages  reg'stered under  the Ordinance.  Thus even among

39-.

these couples with husbands relatively similar  in occupation-
al  status, there are highly significant difference  in aspects
of conjugal  relationships correlated with the type of marriage.
Thus more couples married under  the Ordinance than  in custom-
ary marriage have financial  arrangements.  For  instance
while only 5% of couples married customarily own joint pro-
perty, 20% of those with registered marriages do so and 35%
of  those whose  parents also had registered marriages  ( V2  »
11.342. P ^ . 0 0 1.  df -  1).  A statistically  significant
difference also exists  In the overall management of finances
between  the two sets of couples  (see Table 12  x2  m-5.609.
P<  .02. df - I).

A

Conclusion

We selected a sample of socially and spatially mobile
urban  immigrants, a section of an educated elite and used a
conceptual  framework for examining aspects of conjugal and
kinship relations composed of two variables; first - relative
jointness and segregation referring  to the extent to which
husbands and wives acted  together or as substitutes for each
other-»in the performance of their conjugal  rights and duties -
and  secondly the degree of openness or closure of the conjugal
family'fn a number of respects, namely the extent to which the
husband was playing the parental  role, educating and supporting
kin  in conjugal  families other  than his own and the extent to
which others were assuming  their domestic responsibilities.

Each of these variables has been used separately in
previous studies - the  innovation here was to try to use
the two concepts together and at the same time to examine
areas of conjugal  and kinship behaviour separately.  Thus
a numbjer of quantifiable  Indices were devised with a view
to measuring and comparing  the variables  In contrasting sets
of couples.  The effect of the  independent variables of hus-
band's generation educated and wife's  level of education were
chosen for discussion.  The one was chosen as  indicating
relatively  less dependence upon kin, other than parents, in
childhood - as evidenced  in life histories  (Oppbng, 1970 c)
and  the other, demonstrated elsewhere to be a crucial  factor
In her power relationship vis a" vis her husband.  What were
the results when  these two sets of family relationship and
educational variables were examined simultaneously?  First

ko.

as  regards  FINANCES  - the husband's  increasing  generations
of education were associated  with closure,  in that  there
was  a decrease  in extra-nuclear  family  commitments  - pres-
sures  to help decreased  and  fewer  relatives' children were
educated  and  there was  increasing  jointness between  husband
and wife with  regard  to ownership and  spending.  Similarly
joint  financial  provision  and  spending  and  saving were  seen
(to be correlated  with  the wife's  educational  level.  Overall
in the economic  sphere, education was associated with  joint-
ness and  closure and  these  two tended  to go  together.

Next  as regards  CHORE PERFORMANCE,  the division  of
labour  In the home.  The  general  pattern was openness -
almost  all  households  having outside help  in one  form or
another.  Much of  the assistance  from kin was given  by the
Wife's  relatives. Though  some wives with educated  kin
complained  they could  not get  them  to help  sufficiently,
the gap could  always  be filled  to some extent  by paid  help.
There was no correlation  between  joint  chore  performance and
either  the husband's  generation  educated  or  the wife's
educational  level.  For  the most  part  the pattern  remained
open and  segregated.

Lastly  in the area of decision-making  case  studies
revealed  a considerable  amoun t of  tens ion between w i ves
and  in-laws  In their  efforts  to  influence  the husband's
decision-making  regarding  his allocation  of  resources.
Certainly  there was  no correlation  between  joint or
decision-making  and  the husband's  generat ion  educated,
but  there was a significant  positive correlation  between
the wife's  educational  level  and  joint  decision-making.

Thus  the shift  towards  closure, conjugal  family

Individuation  and  jointness was  not  found  to be uniform
following  upon  increases  in levels and generations  of
education.  In the area  in which  closure  relieved  strain
(by cutting  down  the financial  burden  in cases where  there
was  no feeling  of obligation)  and  in which  jointness  (when
no  threatened  by outsiders' claims) was  seen as beneficial
by  both  partners  - the trends were  in these directions.
On  the other  hand when  openness was  seen as beneficial, in
the case of child-care and chores  - there were attempts  to
preserve  it at all  costs and wives as well  as husbands opted
out of many of  the attached  responsibilities.  It was only

•m 

•

•r

>  *

I*-*

when  the attempt to obtain reliabie substitutes from outside
to assume these task failed, that wives employed outside the
home tried  to persuade their husbands to play a more active
part  in this.  We do not observe the same shift to closure
and jointness as witnessed  in the financial  sphere.  Moreover
jointness  in decision-making  is shown to be as elsewhere
related  to the relative power-giving resources brought to
marriage by the husbands and wives concerned.  It is not a
product of  "enlightenment" following upon education or
urban  1iving.

These observations  have  I know all been commonplace

in nature - familiar  to all  those who are familiar with or
live the life of  the sample described.  They are however
I think very relevant  to the literature on changing family
systems,  in much of which  is the  implicit assumption that
change  is in the closed - joint direction as these terms are
defined  here.  We have demonstrated that factors considered
at the outset as possible causes or associates of change need
to be examined  in relation  to each of the several areas of
family activities separately and that when  this  is done we
may  see change occurring  in one kind of activity and not in
another, just as when examining changes among the prescribed
norms for family relationships of an educated elite sample we
found  that change was occurring  rapidly with  successive
generations of education with regard to family finances in
particular  inheritance but not with regard to the care oF
children across conjugal  family boundaries  (Oppong, 1970 a ).

It is not enough to say that some kfnd of conjugal

pattern has emerged, that there are fewer kinship ties with
distant kin or  that there  is greater emphasis upon the nuclear
family  (Goode  1963:1).  The concept of the conjugal  family
system  itself  is not a workable one.  It is composed of too
many  variables - according  to the personal  relationship
referred  to, whether between husband and wife, parent and
child, brother or sister and according  to the sphere of
activities, whether  financial  provision, management or saving,
child-care, chores or decision-making.

If we appear  to have dwelt unnecessarily upon domestic
detail  in this paper  it is because we feel  that the careful
documentation of such details, within a single and sufficiently
complex conceptual  framework  is the only way we can begin to
understand  the  intricate processes of social change taking
place  in present day domestic relationships  In Ghana.

42.

TABLE  1

Percent of Senior Civil Servants frequently asked
for  help by kin by Father's School Attendance.

Father
Attended School
No
Yes
Total

%

37
25
28

N

(46)
(115)
(161)

TABLE  2

Percent of Husbands Owning Property Jointly with
Kin  (not wife) by Father's School Attendance.

Father
Attended School
No
Yes
Total

9.589.  I

%

49
23
31

N

(43)

(162)

TABLE  3

Husband's Domestic Chore Participation by
Father's Educational  Level.

Father 
Went  to School  Low

Chore

Score (a)

Medium 
(4-5) 

No 
Yes 
(a)  See appendix for mode of calculating score.

(1-3)
(15)30%  (21)43% 
(37)29%  (67)53% 

Total

High
(6-8)
(13)27%  (49)
(20)16%  (124)

43.

TABLE

4

Mode of
Father's

Decision Making
Education.

by Level of

Husband's

Father
Attended
School
No
Yes
Total

Syncratic

Autonomic

Autocratic 

N

%

60
55
56

%

27
33
31

TABLE

5

%

13
12
12

(45)
(121)
(166)

Couples'
Husband'

Management of Financial Affairs by
s Father's School Attendance.

Father
Attended
School
No
Yes
Total

Finaneiai Management Score*

Segregated  Medium
(U2)

0 

Joint
(3-5)

N

(27)55%
(59)45%
(86)49%

(18)37%
(49)38%
(67)38%

(4)8%
(20)16%
(24)14%

(49)100%
(28) 99%
(177)101%

*  For mode of calculating score see

appendix.

TABLE  6

%  Joint
Finances(a)

N

Couples with very joint financial relationships
by the size of the husbands' remittances to kin.
(Percentages.  N = 176)
Size of Monthly
remittances
None
Up to C10
C10 -  20
Over C20
Total
(a) Score on the financial  index of 3 - 5.

Total
(14)
(79)
(61)
(22)
(176)

21
15
11
9
14

(i.e. couples possessing joint property/
accounts.  See Appendix).

44.

TABLE  7

Couples with very joint financial  relationships by
the number of relatives' children educated by the
husband,  (Percentages.  N = 169)
No. of children

Total  N

%  Joint
Finances(a)

0
1
2-6
Total
(a)  See Table 6.

IS
14
8

TABLE  8

(67)
(67)
(47)
(47)
(60)
(169)

Wife's Financial  Contribution by her Educational Level

Educational
level

Wife's  Financial  Contribution  Score*

Nil

Housewife

Low
(1-3)

Medium 

High  Total
High
(6-7)

Elementary
Vocational
Higher
Total
* 

See Appendix

%
45
17
30
29
for calculation

%
29
30
16
26

%
20
35
34
30

%
6
18
20
15

N

% 
100 (51)
100 (66)
100 (54)
100(167)

of score.

TABLE 9

Wife's  Income and  Expenditure by her Educational Level

Educational 
Level 

Nil  Husband 

Income and Expenditure
Spend  Husband

knows how  jointly no knowledge Total
spent 

of spending

Elementary
Vocational
Higher
Total

Hi
39
34
30
2  - 9. 203.  P<.01.  df -  I.

41
18
30
29

16
11
6
11

29
32
30
31

100 (51)
100 (66)
J00 (50)
100(167)

45.

TABLE 10

Percent of
Educational

Couples
Level.

with  Joint Accounts

by Wife's

Educational
Level

Joint Accounts

Elementary
Vocational
Higher
V2 - 9. 358.  P <  .01.  df « I,

2
13
21

N

(51)
(66)
(49)

LA

TABLE 11

Spouses' Mode of Decision-Making by the Financial  input
of Wife.

Wife's
Input*

Mode  of  Decision-Making 

Total

Syncratlc  Automonlc  Autocratic 

N'

Score

Nil
housewife
Low
Medium
High

%
35
39
27
26
V2  - 9. 27. P^ 01. df - 1.

%
44
46
67
74

(1-3)
(4-5)
(6-7)

%

21
16
6
0

(43)
(44)
(48)
(23)

* See appendix for mode of calculating  relative size of

financial  contribution.

TABLE 12

Couples' Joint management of finances by the type of
their marriage contract  (Percentages.  N -171)
Type of Contract

% Joint (a)

Total

Customary
Registered
(a)  i.e. score of 1 - 5 on the financial  index. See

(47)
(124)

36
57

appendix.

Y2 - 5. 609.  P< .02.  df - 1.

46.

References

Blood,  R.O. & Wolfe, D.M. 

i960

.Husbands and Wives,
Glencoe  Free  Press.

Bott,  E.

Caldwell,  J.C.

Goode, W.J.

1957

1968

1963

Qppong,  C.

1969a 

1969b 

1970a 

Family  and  Social  Network
Roles1  Norms  and  ExternaT
Relationships  fn Ordinary
Urban  Fami1ies.  Tavistock
Publicat ions, London.

Population  and  Family  Change
In Africa.  The New Urban
ElIte  in Ghana.  Austral ran
National  University  Press,
Canberra.

World  Revolution  and  Family
Patterns"  The Free  Press
of  Glencoe.

Matrtliny  and Marriage.
Paper  presented  at a Con-
ference on Networks  Leiden,
Afrika-Studle  Centrum.
September.

Education  of  Relatives'
Children  by Senior  Civil
Servants  In Accra.
Ghana  Journal  of  Child
Development,
December.

Vol.2  No.2

The  Conjugal  Family  'Open1 or
'Closed'.  Changes  In Prescribed
Norms  among  Ghanaian  University
Students.  Paper  read at  the
Ghana  Sociological  Association,
April.

~*4

A

i

irrt

• a*

Oppong,  C.

)970b 

1970c 

1971a 

1971b 

1971c 

1972 

n.d. 

47.

Conjugal  Power and Resources:
An Urban African  Example.  Journal
of Marriage and  the Family,  Vol.32
No.k,  pp. 676-680.

Aspects of Conjugal  Relationships
Among Akan  Senior  Civil  Servants
In Accra^  Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge.

Urban  Household  Budgets.  Paper
presented  at an  interdisciplinary
seminar on  the Family Among  the
Akan and Ewe, forthcoming  In Legon
Family Research  Papers No.I
Supplement  to  I.A.S. Research  Review.

Family  Change  in Africa:  A Review
Research  Review  Vol.7 No.2, pp. 1-17.

"Joint" Conjugal  Roies and  "Extended
Families";  A  Preliminary  note on a
mode of classifying  Conjugal  Family
Relationships.  Journal  of  Comparative
Family  Studies.  Autumn, pp. 178-187,
Vol.11 No.2.

Husbands and Housework:  A Ghanaian
Example of  Ethnic Variation.  Paper
presented  at a seminar  I.A.S., Legon.

Decision-Making  and  the Exchange
of Resources among  some urban Akan
couples; forthcoming  In Journal  of
African and Asian  Studies  -special
issue  (ed.) M. Fortes.

48.

Appendix

The. Behavioural  Indices

1.  The wife's  financial  provision  score

The following  question was asked and  the coded  responses
regarding  the relative  amounts wives  contributed  to the
payment  of  the following  eight  household  expense  Items were
totalled.

If your wife  Is earning  an  income how much does  she contribute
to the following  items of  expenditure?  Circle  the appropriate
f' 9u re 
Item 

AMOUNT
Part 

Nothing 

All

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)

Food
Rent
Transport
Children's  clothes
Her own  clothes
Domestic  labour
Children's  school  fees
Electricity/gas

... 
... 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

2
2

I 
1 

12
12

12
12
12
12

The  possible  range of  scores was  from 0 - 16.
The actual  range  recorded was 0 - 8.  Zero and  low scores
meant  that  the wife was contributing  nothing  or  little to
the. cost of  the  Items.  Higher  scores meant  she was contri-
buting  something  to several  or  all  items.

2.  The  Joint  Finances  Scores

A number  of  responses  concerning  financial  management

were allotted  scores, which were  subsequently  added  up to give
an overall  indication  of  the degree  to which husband and wife
managed  their  finances  together.

Score

a)  Husband  knows  how wife  spends  income

or couple  pool  Incomes and  spend  jointly

b)  Couple own joint  property
c)  Couple  keep a joint  savings  bank  account
d)  Couple keep a joint current  bank account

I
2
1
1
I

The  possible  range of  scores was  0 - 5.
were  recorded.

Scores  from

r

• 

*

3.  The Husband's Chore Participation  Score

To achieve an  indication of the husband's overall
degree of participation  In domestic tasks responses to
the following  statement were totalled  (0 » 0, 1 = 1 , 2 = 2,
3 • 3» ^ - 1) and divided by four, giving scores ranging
from  1 - 8.

Household  tasks:-  Please  indicate by circling  the

appropriate figures how often you have done the following
tasks since you married:-

Never Occasion- More than Always Previous-

ally 

half  the 

time 

ly but
not now
1)

0
(a)  gardening 
0
(b)  tidying up 
0
(c)  washing up 
0
(d)  marketing 
(e)  store shopping 
0
(f)  buying children's clothes  0
0
(g)  bath children 
0
(h)  dress children 
0
(I)  mixing  food for baby 
(j)  changing nappies 
0
0
(k)  mending  fuses 
0
(1)  setting  the table 
0
(m)  cooking 
In)  making  beds 
0
0
(o)  washing  shirts 
0
(p)  washing car 
(q)  petty household  repairs 
0

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

>
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

h
k

k
k