Couples - Are Couples Becoming More Equal?

Question 1

Why could Oakley’s research be seen as outdated?

Answer 1

Because most women in her study were full-time housewives, but today many more wives go out to work either part or full-time

Question 2

What do some sociologists believe that women going out to work is leading to? (March of progress view)

Answer 2

Is leading to a more equal division of labour at home, with men becoming more involved in housework/childcare and women becoming more involved in paid work

Question 3

Which march of progress sociologist believes women working full-time is leading to a more equal division of labour in the home?

Answer 3

Gershuny

Question 4

What trend did Sullivan find from their analysis of national representative data collected in 1975, 1987 and 1997? (March of progress view)

Answer 4

A trend towards women doing smaller share of domestic work and men doing more

Question 5

Survey that is carried out by Britain used as evidence in this topic?

Answer 5

British Social Attitude survey

Question 6

What belief did the British Social Attitudes survey of 2013 find a fall in the number of people?

Answer 6

The belief that it is a man’s job to earn money and a women’s job to stay at home with the family

Question 7

According to feminists, what has women going into paid work not led to?

Answer 7

It hasn’t led to greater equality in domestic division of labour

Question 8

What do women now carry out in the domestic division of labour according to feminists?

Answer 8

A dual burden of paid work and domestic work

Question 9

How many hours of housework do men and women do per week according to the British Social Attitude survey in 2012?

Answer 9

Men - 8 hours per week
Women - 13 hours per week

Question 10

Why do surveys not tell us anything about who takes responsibility for ensuring tasks are done around the house?

Answer 10

Because they usually focus on easily quantifiable aspects of housework and childcare, such as who performs which tasks

Question 11

Who usually takes responsibility for child’s security and well-being according to Boulton?

Answer 11

The mother, although father may help by performing specific childcare tasks

Question 12

In what percentage of families do fathers take responsibility for childcare according to Ferri and Smith?

Answer 12

Fewer than 4%

Question 13

What percentage of fathers took main responsibility for caring for their sick child according to Dex and Ward?

Answer 13

Only 1%

Question 14

What work are women often required to carry out according to Feminists? Who developed this concept?

Answer 14

Emotion work - concept developed by Hoshchild

Question 15

What does emotion work involve?

Answer 15

Involves being responsible for managing emotions of family members

Question 16

What role do women have to perform according to some sociologists?

Answer 16

The triple shift of housework, paid work and emotion work

Question 17

Parental responsibility that usually falls to the mother according to Southerton?

Answer 17

Parental responsibility of managing, scheduling and coordinating the family’s ‘quality time’ together

Question 18

Why has the responsibility of coordinating, managing and scheduling the family’s quality time become more difficult in today’s late modern society?

Answer 18

Because recent social changes like the emergence of 24/7 society and flexible workers has resulted in people’s time becoming more fragmented

Question 19

Who came up with two explanations for the unequal division of labour within the family?

Answer 19

Crompton and Lyonette

Question 20

Which two explanations do the unequal division of labour did Crompton and Lyonette develop?

Answer 20

Cultural/ideological explanation for inequality
Material/economic explanation for inequality

Question 21

According to the cultural/ideological explanation of inequality developed by Crompton and Lyonette, what is the division of labour determined by?

Answer 21

Determined by patriarchal norms and values that shape gender roles in our culture

Question 22

According to the cultural/ideological explanation of inequality developed by Crompton and Lyonette, why do women perform more domestic labour than men?

Answer 22

Because that is what society expects them to do and has socialised them to do

Question 23

According to the cultural/ideological explanation of inequality developed by Crompton and Lyonette, how will equality be achieved?

Answer 23

If gender norms of gender roles change, which would involve chances in men and women’s attitudes, values and expectations

Question 24

According to the cultural/ideological explanation of inequality developed by Crompton and Lyonette, how did Gershuny suggest that parental role models are important factors for the division of labour?

Answer 24

Found couples whose parents had more equal relationship are more likely to share housework equally themselves

Question 25

According to the cultural/ideological explanation of inequality developed by Crompton and Lyonette, how is a generational shift occurring suggested by the Future Foundation?

Answer 25

Men doing more housework than their fathers and women doing less housework than their mothers

Question 26

According to the material/economic explanation of inequality developed by Crompton and Lyonette, what makes it economically rational for women to do more housework and childcare than men?

Answer 26

The fact that women generally earn less than men

Question 27

According to the material/economic explanation of inequality developed by Crompton and Lyonette, what should we expect to see men and women do if women join the labour force and earn as much as their partner?

Answer 27

We should expect to see me and women doing more equal amounts of domestic work

Question 28

In what fraction of households do men earn more than women?

Answer 28

7/8

Question 29

According to the material/economic explanation of inequality developed by Crompton and Lyonette, what are better paid, m/c women more able to buy according to Arber and Ginn?

Answer 29

More able to buy on commercially produced products and services, rather than having to spend time carrying out labour-intensive tasks themselves