domestic division of labour

Question 1

what is the domestic division of labour?

Answer 1

the different roles that men and women have in the household - housework, paid work and childcare. many sociologists debate whether this is equal

Question 2

what is the functionalist view on the domestic division of labour?

Answer 2

Parsons argues that the nuclear family segregated the roles that men and women have into the expressive and instrumental roles.

Question 3

Parsons (1955)

Answer 3

Parsons based the instrumental and expressive roles on the biological differences between men and women. women suit the ‘nurture’ role and men the ‘provider’ role. this decision benefits men and women and the wider society

Question 4

What are two criticisms of the functionalist view on the domestic division of labour?

Answer 4

-young and wilmott- functionalists ignore the view that the domestic division of labour is becoming more equal as women are in paid work and ‘breadwinners’
-feminists argue the divide isn’t natural, it’s there to benefit men and the patriarchy

Question 5

what do feminists believe about housework?

Answer 5

they reject the march of progress view as women still does majority of the housework

Question 6

Ann Oakley (1974)

Answer 6

Ann criticised Young and Wilmott for over exaggerating the symmetrical family. their interviews finding husbands helping wives once a week could be making the childs breakfast once a week- not as equal as they claim. her own study found husbands are helping more (15% housework, 25% childcare) which still doesn’t show symmetry. says men cherry pick ‘fun’ tasks and women with extra housework.

oakley interviewed 40 london housewives,
80% of the women who answered ‘yes’ to the question about monotony also reported that they felt dissatisfied with housework.

-Many women felt lonely and experienced a lack of social interaction with others
-The phrase ‘being one’s own boss’ was a valued aspect of the housewife role, quoted by nearly half of the sample
-Housework is the least liked aspect of being a housewife
-The average working week in the sample was 77 hours
-Those who had high status jobs before being a housewife were dissatisfied

Question 7

Ann Oakleys dual burden

Answer 7

housework and childcare were still primarily the woman’s job, which mean they had a dual burden of not only paid work but work at home.

Question 8

What did Bott (1957) find

Answer 8

segregated and joint conjugal roles

Question 9

segregated conjugal roles

Answer 9

Segregated conjugal roles are those in which the husband and wife have a clear differentiation of tasks and a considerable number of separate interests and activities. Marriages where couples also have separate social ties and obligations tend to be less connected

Question 10

joint conjugal roles

Answer 10

They mean that domestic responsibilities are shared relatively equally between partners. There is no clear division between “male” and “female” tasks. they spend leisure time together

Question 11

functionalist perspectives of conjugal roles

Answer 11

functionalist- agree with segregated roles, parsons argues gender roles are allocated to the roles of each parent. biologically suited to that role. children then learn their roles

Question 12

marxist perspective of conjugal roles

Answer 12

critical of separate conjugal roles. the separation of conjugal roles in the home creates a hierarchy which resembles the hierarchy of capitalist society. adapt to capitalist ideas

Question 13

how much is domestic labour worth?

Answer 13

• £21,840 per year • £407.39 per week

Question 14

what should an instrumental role do?

Answer 14

To achieve success at
work.
• To provide financial
support for family.
• ‘Breadwinner’

Question 15

what should an expressive role look like?

Answer 15

• Expressive role
• Primary socialisation of
the children.
• Meeting the family’s
emotional needs. • ‘Home-maker’

Question 16

Young and Wilmott

Answer 16

the symmetrical family

Question 17

what is the symmetrical family?

Answer 17

Young and Wilmott (1973) take a march of progress view of the history of the family.
• They see the family as gradually improving, becoming more equal and democratic.
• They argue that the majority of families now are focused on joint conjugal roles.
• They argue that the family is symmetrical (although roles are not identical they are much more similar now).

Question 18

what evidence is there to support the symmetrical family?

Answer 18

Women now go to work o Men help out with the
housework and childcare o Couples now spend their
leisure time together instead of separately.

Question 19

young and wilmott argue the symmetrical family is because of…?

Answer 19

Changes in women’s position
• Geographical mobility – more couples living away from the communities they grew up in.
• New technology – labour saving devices • Higher standards of living

Question 20

what do feminists argue about the symmetrical family?

Answer 20

Reject the march of progress view.
They argue that women are still unequal in the family home and do the majority of household work

Question 21

what did Boulton argue?

Answer 21

– argues that less than 20% of husbands have major role in childcare.

Question 22

Warde and Hetherington (1993)

Answer 22

Warde and Hetherington (1993) – argue that the sex-typing of domestic chores is still strong in society. Women were 30x more likely to be the last person to have done the washing, whilst men were 4x more likely to be the last person to wash the car.
• Men only do ‘female’ tasks when women are not there. They do acknowledge there has been a slight attitude change in younger men as they no longer assume women should do housework