Home management - Family Resources

FAMILY RESOURCES

Every family has certain needs to be fulfilled. Need for food, clothing, shelter etc. are the primary needs and the needs for education, entertainment, comfort etc are secondary needs. How far these needs are met depends on the availability of resources.

Resources are the means of satisfying wants. They are essential for achieving family goals. Resources are the materials and human attributes which satisfy our wants. They vary for individuals, communities, states and nations.

Resources are of two types - Human resources and non-human or material resources. Human Resources include the personal characteristics and attributes i.e., education, occupational status, skills, attitudes, personality trait and other personal characteristics and also resources that are used for the productive purposes which includes, time, energy, abilities and interests.

Non-human or material resources are material goods, such as house, furniture, money and community facilities which include parks, library, government hospitals, schools, shopping and recreational facilities. Non- human resources are easily identifiable but are limited in their availability.

The success of the management depends upon the recognition, allocation and use of resources. All resources are useful, but the usefulness of a particular resource varies from goal to goal. The resources are limited. The limitation may be qualitative or quantitative. e.g. time is a limited resource since no one can have more than 24 hours per day. We cannot save the time for each day

for future use. Energy is another limited resource. It varies from person to person. The limits of money are measured quantitatively. The amount and the demand for money varies from individual to individual and from situation to situation and from time to time. The abilities of the family members are limited by the inherent capacity and the training involved.

The qualitative limitation of the resources cannot be easily measured. It can be identified in material goods and the available community services.

All the resources are interrelated. The integration of all the available resources will lead to a satisfactory path to attain the goal. The use and abuse of the different types of resources affect the efficiency of the management. Management means planning, directing, guiding, co-ordinating, controlling and evaluating the use of the human and the material resources of the family, for the purpose of attaining maximum satisfaction. Quality of life is determined by the proper utilisation of the resources e.g. using labour saving devices. This conserves time and energy and lead to better products in food, clothing and house sanitation.