Using a sample consisting of 4,997 married couples from the National Survey of Families and Households, individual emotional distress, the occurrence of couple disagreements, couple fighting, and couple quality time together mediated the relationship between financial strain and personal assessments of marital instability. The overall results suggest that financial strain influences both positive and negative forms of couple interaction which are stronger mediators than personal emotional distress of the relationship between financial strain and marital instability. The results further suggest that there were no gender differences among these linkages. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007Couple interaction, Disagreements, Financial strain, Marital conflict, Marital instability,

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A budget process variable is developed to address three research questions con cerning family cash‐flow management: (1) how frequently is the formalized cash‐ flow budget used, (2) what are the characteristics of those families who tend to use it, and (3) what are the potential benefits associated with the use of a formal budget. The distribution for a formalized budget variable is reported for a repre sentative sample of Iowa families. The distribution is skewed with a dispropor tional large group of households reporting little, if any, formalized planning. Compared to informal planners, formal budget planners are more likely to have the following characteristics: younger, more years of education, two‐spouse households, and high circumstantial demands. Preliminary evidence suggests that benefits like increased wealth accumulation over the long run may be more important than immediate benefits like current satisfactions. A question is raised about the conventional assumption that families typically use a formalized or “normative” budget process.

The basic theoretical framework for a home production activity model is developed here. This model provides a unified context in which to view production activities, especially within the home. A rationale for the widely held concept of utility is explained, thereby integrating social, psychological, and economic theory in a single theoretical construct. Such an inter disciplinary approach facilitates the understanding and explanation of the processes by which the family carries out its diverse functions. Production activities are examined in an input‐output model and are differentiated accord ing to a classification of household, market, or home production. Output is defined in such a manner as to specifically expand the recently developed characteristic approach to consumer decision‐ making. This process allows us to view a broad range of family activities and place them on a continuum extending from production to consumption. Such a perspective pro vides a framework for analyzing home management and family development decisions of re source allocation with respect to human capital, material capital, time, consumption, and production.

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