In fact, 40% of respondents contribute less than 20% to the household’s expenses and over 33% contribute between 20% to 39%. Only 10% reported contributing from 40% to 59% to the expenses.

One respondent told us she pays the ADSL because it is on her monthly mobile bill, “other than that, I don’t pay anything regular,” she added.

When it came to mothers, it seemed women were more willing to use their incomes in contributing to their children expenses. Over 56% of mothers interviewed contributed to their children’s expenses while 30.4% didn’t contribute at all and 13% contributed occasionally.

 “In our case, my husband provides for everything, but when it comes to baby school expenses for instance, he can’t afford it on his own so we split it,” says one of our respondents.

Ninety three percent of women interviewed seem to be using their income for their own personal expenses, the likes of hairdressers, going out with friends and personal shopping. However, only 37.5% reported covering their personal expenses without contributions from their husbands as the rest reported taking money from their husbands for personal expenses regularly or occasionally.

Women, however, seem to be willing to contribute to extras, like travelling and vacations. “Sometimes if we want to travel abroad, we split things like that,” says a 30-year-old respondent. “And I think it’s fair. He’s doing everything he can, and I have extra cash, why not use it to improve our life style.”

2 of 3. Next: “Is it a woman’s duty to contribute to the household’s expenses?”