Changing Relationships

Question 1

Families over time:

Answer 1

Pre-industrial: Extended families, worked as a productive unit, families performed most functions

Industrial: Nuclear families, male took breadwinner role, government took over functions from families

Contemporary: Family diversity, diversity of roles, smaller families

Question 2

Gender roles:

Answer 2

Wilmott and Young: Families are more symmetrical with shared contributions and equal roles

Reasons for symmetrical families: changing attitudes commercialisation of housework

Stratified diffusion: Roles filter from middle to working class (will become less equal)

Question 3

Parents and children:

Answer 3

Relationships in the past: Parents had authority, strict and discipline, children ‘seen and not heard’

Relationships today: Parents show less discipline, children have more freedom, families are more child-centred

Reasons for changes: Women are having less children (families are more child-centred), greater emphasis on children’s rights, families more likely to be a dual worker

Toxic childhood: Children poisoned by junk culture of media and food, leading to poor behaviour and development