Poor people's money during times of uncertainty: Uses, meanings and negotiation of monetary aid measures in the pandemic context

• Published in: The Canadian review of sociology 2024-11, Vol.61 (4), p.339-355
• Main Author: Perez‐Roa, Lorena
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Chile; COVID-19; COVID-19 - economics; COVID-19 - psychology; Emergency medical care; Female; Female headed households; Females; Head of household; Humans; Income - statistics & numerical data; Low income areas; Low income groups; Meaning; Middle Aged; Money; Negotiating - psychology; Negotiation; Negotiations; Pandemics; Pandemics - economics; Pension funds; Poverty - psychology; Poverty - statistics & numerical data; Qualitative Research; SARS-CoV-2; Uncertainty; Women
• ISSN: 1755-6171; 1755-618X; 1755-618X
• DOI: 10.1111/cars.12468

This study sought to explore the uses meanings and negotiation that female heads of household from low‐income areas gave to the transferred money in the COVID health emergency period. Our specific interest is in the withdrawal of 10% of pension funds and the Emergency Family Income (IFE) due to the monetary relevance of both programs. Based on a 10th‐month follow‐up of 14 female heads of household from low‐income areas of Santiago, Chile, this qualitative study examines how the participating women “mark,” in Zelizer's sense, the money they received. Thus, we seek to account for how, based on the source of money, its forms of access and the amounts received, women determine how to use it and assign meaning to its value. RÉSUMÉ Cette étude a cherché à explorer les usages, les significations et les négociations que les femmes chefs de famille des zones à faibles revenus ont donné à l'argent transféré pendant la période d'urgence sanitaire COVID. Nous intéressons plus particulièrement au retrait de 10% des fonds de pension et au revenu familial d'urgence (IFE) en raison de l'importance monétaire de ces deux programmes. Basée sur un suivi de dix mois de 14 femmes chefs de famille issues de quartiers défavorisés de Santiago du Chili, cette étude qualitative examine la manière dont les femmes participantes “marquent”, au sens de Zelizer, l'argent qu'elles ont reçu. Ainsi, nous cherchons à expliquer comment, en fonction de la source de l'argent, de ses formes d'accès et des montants reçus, les femmes déterminent comment l'utiliser et attribuent une signification à sa valeur.