Maria manages the money she earns21. Maria spends her salary completely on

family needs, principally on food, medicines, and clothes for her children. Before her

work at the flower plantation, she used to ask for money from her husband for every

house necessity. Generally he was reluctant to give money for something he considered

unnecessary, or that he thought was already purchased. Now, Maria does the grocery

shopping, and pays other expenses after receiving her salary, before going home. Her

husband pays for utilities bills, materials for home maintenance, small appliances, and

some school supplies for their children, etc. Both make the decision to undertake special

expenses like buying a TV, furniture, or a piece of land. These shared decisions

happened very often, even when Maria was not yet working.

 Normally Maria and her husband get along well. But occasionally, when he is

drunk, disagreements can happen. This occurs often on Fridays. When it happens, it is

likely that the drunken husband behaves somewhat irrationally and even violently. This

behavior was more frequent before Maria got a job at the flower plantation. Now it

occurs sporadically. Family disagreements also arise when her husband cannot find a

job. In such cases, Manuel tries to search for a job in nearby towns. If Manuel does not

find a job for several days, he becomes irritated and is likely to start arguing with Maria

for any minor reason.

 Because of Maria's employment at the flower plantation, she explains that her

husband appears more attentive with her. Although he is not involved in some house

tasks because he does not see them as part of his role, he tends to compensate by

increasing his own tasks. He tries to engage in some home improvements in which he


21 Another woman worker I interviewed used to "put together" her money with her husband's money, then
both decide house expenses.