“It Costs Me Money to Work in the Industry”: Spending Money on Scrapbooking

Each Wednesday, I write a post from my dissertation.

Excluding scrapbook business owners, industry workers earn close to minimum wage, commission-only, or a combination of the two in addition to discounted supplies. A running joke among brick and mortar employees is that it costs them more to work in the scrapbook store because much of their earnings on more scrapbooking supplies. Some respondents, however, argue they do save money because they would be buying the merchandise anyway only now they get a discount.

What seems to be happening is that women are working in the industry so that they can spend their own money on their hobby without having to justify their spending to themselves or their partners—though none of my respondents mention this type of tension, it is in line with other research regarding women and work. For example, research on childcare expenses finds that women see childcare expenses as coming out of their paycheck rather than the household’s overall budget (Tahmincioglu 2009). In contrast, men do not seem to be taking a job at the golf course (or whatever the hobby is) to pay for his golf game but instead the expense comes out of the household’s budget (read, his budget).

Do women enter the scrapbook industry to support their hobby? Do men and women conceptualize their household budgets differently? Join the conversation below or on facebook.

Reference:

Tahmincioglu, Eve. 2009. “Many Moms Assume Burden of Child-Care Costs.” Retreived January 18, 2010.

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Stephanie