The way tasks
and jobs
(labour) are
shared
(division)
between men
and women in
the home
(domestic)
Talcott
Parsons
Roles of men and women in the family were separate which was normal and natural.
And that men and women are suited to different domestic roles within the familiy
Primary socialisation of children,
Family's emotional needs - Homemaker
believes DDOL is based on biological differences- women naturally
suited to the nurturing role and men to be the bread winner
Elzabeth Bott
Distinguishes between
two types of conjugal
(domestic) roles
Seperated
conjugal
roles
clear and distinct separate roles - male
breadwinner, female housemaker within a couple
Joint conjugal
roles
The couple share tasks (housework and
childcare) and spent leisure time together
Bethnal Green
Young and
willmott
1950s
studied traditional
working-class
extended families in
bethnal green
indentified a pattern of separated conjugal roles; male
breadwinners playing little part in homelife, women full time
housewives spending time at home doing housework and childcare
1970s
revisited Bethnal green and
took a 'march of progress' view.
Saw family life
becoming equal
and democratic
trend from
segregated
towards
conjugal
roles and
symmetrical
families.
symmetrical families - husband and wife roles
aren't indentical but now are more similar
Women now go to work
Men help more with
house work and childcare
Couples spend their leisure time together
common in
younger families,
geographically
and socially
isolated and who
had more money
72% of males did housework
over washing up
Evaluating
the sharing of
childcare and
housework
within a family
has been a
subject of
controversy
and criticism
much research
has been done
to assess
inequality
withing
marriage but
there is no
agreed idea on
how it can be
measured
Oakley
A feminist view
of Housework
they argue
little has
changed
and women
still do the
majority of
housework
and
childcare
Ann Oakley has been one of
the most vocal critics of
young and willmott,
particularly the way they
conducted their research
she believed that their research was based
upon one simple, badly designed question - ' do
you/ your husband help at least once a week
with any household jobs like washing up,
making beds, ironing, cooking or cleaning?'
as oakley claimed that by Y and W standards a
symmetrical family could include a man who
simply took the bins out once a week.
Oakley's research
She studied 40 married women
who had 1 or more children
under 5, who were british and
aged between 20-30. half were
middle class, half working class
and all in London
findings - greater equality in allocation of
domestic tasks between couples in the
middle class than in the working class, and
only a few marriages overall were
described as equals. in only 15% of cases
men had high participation in housework
Improvements of the study
Ask married men too
Ask parents with children over 5
Ask people of different ages
Ask a
variety
of
classess
Recent research in the 90s by
Warde and Hetherington found
that sex-typing of domestic tasks
remains strong.
wives are 30 times more likely to have
been the last person to do the washing up
whereas husbands are only 4 times more
likely to be the last person to wash the car
Impact of paid work
1970s women
where full time
housewives and
households today
have a 2nd income
from a wifes full or
part time week
Women taking on
a 'dual burden' of
paid work and
domestic labour
A more equal
division of
domestic tasks
and joint
conjugal roles
with the
emergence of
a 'new man'