ABSTRACT This article analyses to what extent the incorporation of women into the labour market and their consequent economic contribution to family income affects couple's relationships. We focus particularly on Spanish couples, using a qualitative method that consists of 48 in-depth interviews of 16 couples. The partners in each couple were first interviewed together and then separately. From the analysis of the interviews, we have identified three types of dual-income couples: ‘traditional’, ‘egalitarian’ and ‘false egalitarian’ couples. According to our findings, these three types of couples differ in the meaning that men and women attribute to money and in the dynamics and processes related to the control and expenditure of money. Whereas for the majority of women money is linked to personal autonomy, their salaries do not automatically generate a balance between the partners. Moreover, despite social changes, gender socialisation and gender roles persist within the couple, reinforcing, for instance, the belief that men symbolically remain the main providers in dual-income couples.