The Domestic division of labour:
Parsons: instrumental and expressive roles
- traditional nuclear family = roles of husband + wife segregated
- Parsons = clear division of labour b/w spouses:
- Husband = instrumental role: achieving success at work= breadwinner
- Wife= expressive role: primary socialisation of the children + meeting family’s emotional needs =
homemaker
- Based on biological differences= women naturally ‘suited’ to nurturing role; division of labor beneficial to both
genders
- Criticized Parsons:
- Young and Wilmott = men taking a greater share of domestic task + more women become wage earners
- Female sociologists reject Parsons’ view that the division of labour natural + it only benefits men
Joint and segregated conjugal roles
- Bott = two types of conjugal roles within marriage:
- Segregated conjugal roles= separate roles + leisure activities separate
- Joint conjugal roles= couples share tasks such as housework + childcare + spend leisure time together
- Young & Willmott= pattern of segregated conjugal roles in study of traditional w/c extended families in East London
1950s:
- Men breadwinners= little part in home life + spent leisure time with workmates in pubs.
- Women full-time housewives= sole responsibility for housework and childcare helped by female relatives.
The Symmetrical Family
- Young & Willmott = ‘march of progress’ view.
- family life gradually improving for all members = more equal + democratic.
- Long-term trend away from segregated conjugal roles + towards joint conjugal roles.
- Symmetrical family = roles of husbands and wives more similar:
- Women now go out to work
- Men now help with housework and childcare (new man)
- Couples now spend leisure time together
- Y&W -more common in young couples due to major social changes:
- Changes in women’s position;
- e.g married women going out to work.
- Geographical mobility:
- more couples living away from communities in which they grew up
- New technology:
- + labour-saving devices
- Higher standard of living:
- married women bringing second wage = afford more labour-saving devices.
A feminist view of housework
- Feminists reject MOP= little change: men + women remain unequal + women still do most of housework.
- Ann Oakley- criticizes Y&W view as exaggerated.
- She found only 15% of husbands had high level of participation in housework + 25% in childcare= not show
symmetry
- Husbands ‘cherry pick’ only pleasurable aspects such as childcare, leaving women with extra time for
housework
- Warde & Hetherington - sex-typing of domestic tasks remained strong
- wives= 30x more likely the last one to have done the washing
- husbands= 4x more likely the last one to wash the car.
Are couples becoming more equal?
, The impact of paid work
The march of progress view
- Women going to work = more equal division of labour
- Men becoming more involved in housework + childcare
- Gershuny - women working full-time = more equal division of labour.
- studies found these women did less domestic work than other women.
- Sullivan - analysis of nationality representative data found a trend towards women doing smaller share of domestic
work + men doing more.
- + shows increase in symmetrical couples
The Feminist view
- Women in paid work not made DoL more equal
- No evidence of the ‘New Man’ but instead women have a dual burden of both paid and domestic work.
- British Social Attitudes survey 2012, =
- men did avr. of 8 hrs housework a week; women did 13 hrs
- 60% of women felt that unjust.
- Couples still divide household tasks along traditional gender lines (e,g women= laundry and men= small
repairs)
- Allan: survey doesn’t measure qualitative differences in men/women’s tasks i.e. washing less satisfying AND who i
responsible for ensuring tasks are done
Taking responsibility for children
- Boulton: although father may help out with childcare it's usually the mother who takes responsibility for child’s
security/wellbeing
- Ferri and Smith: only 4% of families had the father as the main carer
- Rest held ‘provider ideology’ : they see roles as described by parsons
- most ‘background fathers’; greater weight on relationship with partner than responsibility.
Emotion work & the triple shift.
- Hochschild: ‘emotion work’ - responsible for managing emotions & feelings of family members whilst also exercisin
control on their own emotion
- Duncombe & Marsden- women perform ‘triple shift’: housework, paid work + emotion wok
Taking responsibility for ‘quality time’
- Southerton: Mother’s usually responsible for organizing the family’s ‘quality time’ together
- More difficult in modern society with emergence of 24/7 society + flexible work patterns
- Time is fragmented and working mothers end up being ‘pushed for time’ juggling demands
- Studies show men + women have mostly equal leisure time but men are more likely to experience ‘blocks’ of
uninterrupted time BUT women’s interrupted by childcare.
Explaining the gender division of labour
- Crompton & Lyonette: 2 explanations for unequal division of labour;
Evidence for the cultural explanation:
● Cultural/ideological explanation:
○ determined by patriarchal norms + values which shape gender roles in society.
○ Women are socialized into doing more DL b/c society expects them to.
● Solution: changes in men/women’s attitudes, role models & socialization.
● evidence:
○ Gershuny: couples whose parents had an equal relationship + dol more likely to do the same
■ Shows role models are important
■ Alreading occurring as society gradually adapting to women working full-time
Parsons: instrumental and expressive roles
- traditional nuclear family = roles of husband + wife segregated
- Parsons = clear division of labour b/w spouses:
- Husband = instrumental role: achieving success at work= breadwinner
- Wife= expressive role: primary socialisation of the children + meeting family’s emotional needs =
homemaker
- Based on biological differences= women naturally ‘suited’ to nurturing role; division of labor beneficial to both
genders
- Criticized Parsons:
- Young and Wilmott = men taking a greater share of domestic task + more women become wage earners
- Female sociologists reject Parsons’ view that the division of labour natural + it only benefits men
Joint and segregated conjugal roles
- Bott = two types of conjugal roles within marriage:
- Segregated conjugal roles= separate roles + leisure activities separate
- Joint conjugal roles= couples share tasks such as housework + childcare + spend leisure time together
- Young & Willmott= pattern of segregated conjugal roles in study of traditional w/c extended families in East London
1950s:
- Men breadwinners= little part in home life + spent leisure time with workmates in pubs.
- Women full-time housewives= sole responsibility for housework and childcare helped by female relatives.
The Symmetrical Family
- Young & Willmott = ‘march of progress’ view.
- family life gradually improving for all members = more equal + democratic.
- Long-term trend away from segregated conjugal roles + towards joint conjugal roles.
- Symmetrical family = roles of husbands and wives more similar:
- Women now go out to work
- Men now help with housework and childcare (new man)
- Couples now spend leisure time together
- Y&W -more common in young couples due to major social changes:
- Changes in women’s position;
- e.g married women going out to work.
- Geographical mobility:
- more couples living away from communities in which they grew up
- New technology:
- + labour-saving devices
- Higher standard of living:
- married women bringing second wage = afford more labour-saving devices.
A feminist view of housework
- Feminists reject MOP= little change: men + women remain unequal + women still do most of housework.
- Ann Oakley- criticizes Y&W view as exaggerated.
- She found only 15% of husbands had high level of participation in housework + 25% in childcare= not show
symmetry
- Husbands ‘cherry pick’ only pleasurable aspects such as childcare, leaving women with extra time for
housework
- Warde & Hetherington - sex-typing of domestic tasks remained strong
- wives= 30x more likely the last one to have done the washing
- husbands= 4x more likely the last one to wash the car.
Are couples becoming more equal?
, The impact of paid work
The march of progress view
- Women going to work = more equal division of labour
- Men becoming more involved in housework + childcare
- Gershuny - women working full-time = more equal division of labour.
- studies found these women did less domestic work than other women.
- Sullivan - analysis of nationality representative data found a trend towards women doing smaller share of domestic
work + men doing more.
- + shows increase in symmetrical couples
The Feminist view
- Women in paid work not made DoL more equal
- No evidence of the ‘New Man’ but instead women have a dual burden of both paid and domestic work.
- British Social Attitudes survey 2012, =
- men did avr. of 8 hrs housework a week; women did 13 hrs
- 60% of women felt that unjust.
- Couples still divide household tasks along traditional gender lines (e,g women= laundry and men= small
repairs)
- Allan: survey doesn’t measure qualitative differences in men/women’s tasks i.e. washing less satisfying AND who i
responsible for ensuring tasks are done
Taking responsibility for children
- Boulton: although father may help out with childcare it's usually the mother who takes responsibility for child’s
security/wellbeing
- Ferri and Smith: only 4% of families had the father as the main carer
- Rest held ‘provider ideology’ : they see roles as described by parsons
- most ‘background fathers’; greater weight on relationship with partner than responsibility.
Emotion work & the triple shift.
- Hochschild: ‘emotion work’ - responsible for managing emotions & feelings of family members whilst also exercisin
control on their own emotion
- Duncombe & Marsden- women perform ‘triple shift’: housework, paid work + emotion wok
Taking responsibility for ‘quality time’
- Southerton: Mother’s usually responsible for organizing the family’s ‘quality time’ together
- More difficult in modern society with emergence of 24/7 society + flexible work patterns
- Time is fragmented and working mothers end up being ‘pushed for time’ juggling demands
- Studies show men + women have mostly equal leisure time but men are more likely to experience ‘blocks’ of
uninterrupted time BUT women’s interrupted by childcare.
Explaining the gender division of labour
- Crompton & Lyonette: 2 explanations for unequal division of labour;
Evidence for the cultural explanation:
● Cultural/ideological explanation:
○ determined by patriarchal norms + values which shape gender roles in society.
○ Women are socialized into doing more DL b/c society expects them to.
● Solution: changes in men/women’s attitudes, role models & socialization.
● evidence:
○ Gershuny: couples whose parents had an equal relationship + dol more likely to do the same
■ Shows role models are important
■ Alreading occurring as society gradually adapting to women working full-time
