Domestic Division of Labour

Question 1

What do Statistics claim from the Mid-1990’s (Family Crime)?

Answer 1

1 in 20 Girls 1/4 of these under the age of five, are victims of incest whilst on average 1 child a week dies at the hands of its parents, usually its father or step-father in the UK

Question 2

How many killing of women are there each week on average in the UK (Family Crime)?

Answer 2

2 Domestic Killings a week, accounting for about 40% of all female murders

Question 3

What data did NSPCC provide regarding Child Abuse?

Answer 3

7% of children experience physical abuse during childhood, 6% emotional abuse, 11% Sexual abuse involving contact and 6% neglect.

Around 16% of Children will experiences abuse at the hands of their parents at some point during their childhood.

Question 4

What theory did Parsons contribute to DDOL?

Answer 4

Instrumental and Expressive roles

Question 5

What is an Instrumental role?

Answer 5

The husband holds this , provides financially for the family and performing as the breadwinner

Question 6

What is an expressive role?

Answer 6

The wife performs this role by dealing with the primary socialisation of children , as a homemaker and full time wife

Question 7

What does Parsons argue the division of labour is based on?

Answer 7

Biological differences, women are more naturally suited to nurture and men more naturally suited to provide

Question 8

How has Parsons’ view been criticised?

Answer 8

Young and Wilmott argue men are taking a greater share of domestic tasks and wives are becoming wage earners

Feminists argue that the division of labour only benefits men and is not equal as parsons states

Question 9

What is a Joint conjugal role ?

Answer 9

Couples share tasks such as housework and childcare and spend leisure time together

Question 10

What is separate conjugal roles?

Answer 10

Couples have separate roles within the family the male a breadwinner and the female a homemaker, leisure activities tend to be separate

Question 11

Who introduced the idea of Joint and Conjugal roles?

Answer 11

Elizabeth Bott in 1957

Question 12

Which Family did Young and Wilmott associate separate conjugal roles with from their study?

Answer 12

Traditional working class extended families , males tended to be the breadwinner playing little part in the home and spent leisure time with work mates whilst females were full time housewives with a responsibility for housework and child care

Question 13

What is the March of Progress viewed held by Wilmott and Young ?

Answer 13

Family is gradually improving for all members becoming more equal and democratic. there is a long term trend away from segregated conjugal roles and towards joint conjugal roles and a Symmetrical family

Question 14

Why are families much more similar according to the march of progress?

Answer 14

Women now go out to work (this may be part time)
men help with housework and childcare
Couples spend leisure time together

Question 15

Who did Wilmott and Young say symmetrical families were more common in?

Answer 15

Young couples who are geographically and socially isolated who are more affluent

Question 16

What major social changes did Wilmott and Young use to describe why their was a rise in symmetrical nuclear families?

Answer 16

Women’s positions have now changed
Geographical Mobility
New technology
Higher standards of living

Question 17

How may Geographical mobility give rise to symmetrical families?

Answer 17

More couples are living away from home isolated from the family and do not receive any help they therefore rely on each other to provide and take care of the children and this then becomes joint roles and equality in the family

Question 18

Why do Feminist Sociologists reject the march of progress/

Answer 18

Argue that little has changed , women and men remain unequal and women still do most of the housework

Question 19

Where do feminists see the inequalities are stemming from?

Answer 19

family and society are male-dominated (patriarchal), women occupy a subordinate and dependant role within the family and wider society

Question 20

How does Ann Oakley criticize Willmott and Young?

Answer 20

There claims are exaggerated. Oakley claims there evidence of more symmetry was hardly convincing

Question 21

What did Ann Oakley study of housewives Show?

Answer 21

Evidence of husbands helping but no evidence of symmetry
15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework and 25% in childcare

Husbands were more likely to share the pleasurable tasks of childcare and many couples described it as ‘taking an interest’ and played with children in the evening removing the reward of children from mothers

Question 22

How did Mary Boultons research support Oakley?

Answer 22

Found fewer than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare . Argues Willmott and Young exaggerated men’s contribution but looking at the tasks in childcare rather than responsibilities

Question 23

What did Warde and Hetheringtons research find?

Answer 23

Sex-typing of domestic tasks remained strong - wives 30 times Marie likely to be the also person to have done the washing up. Husbands 4 times as likely to have been the last person to wash the car

Men would only carry out routine female tasks when their partners were not around to do them ,

Evidence of a slight change in young men’s attitudes , no longer assuming it was a women’s job to do housework

Question 24

How has Paid work impacted on equality within couples?

Answer 24

Today many wives go out to work either full time or part time.
Has this led to a march of progress or the dual burden?

Question 25

Explain the march of progress view

Answer 25

Women going out to work is leading to a more equal division of Labour at home , men are becoming more involved in childcare and housework just as women are becoming involved in paid work

Question 26

How did Gershuny contribute to the March of progress view?

Answer 26

He found that women in full time work is Elaine to a more equal division of Labour - women in full time work did less domestic work than women who weren’t in full time woke according to his time study

Question 27

How did Sullivan contribute to the march of progress?

Answer 27

Found a trend in women doing a smaller share of domestic work and men doing more according to her analysis of representative data collected in 1975, 1987 and 1997

Found an increase in the number of couples with an equal division of Labour and that men were participating in more traditional women’s roles

Question 28

How are Gershuny and Sullivan’s finding reflected in the British social attitudes survey?

Answer 28

Found a fall in the number of people who think it’s a mans job to go earn money and the women’s job to look after the home and family.

1984 - 54% of men and 41% of women agreed with this view
2012 - 13% of men and 12% of women agreed

Question 29

How have feminist criticized the march of progress view?

Answer 29

Women going into paid work has not led to greater equality in the domestic division of Labour. There is little sign of the new man

Question 30

What evidence did the British social attitudes survey show about how much men do that supported the feminist view?

Answer 30

In 2012 men did an average of 8 hours housework a week compared to women who did 13
Similarly in 2012 men spent 10 hours caring for family members whereas women did 23
Overall women did twice as much as men
60% of women felt this division was unjust and they were doing more than their fair share

Question 31

What did the British social attitudes survey show about who does what that supports the feminist view ?

Answer 31

Couples continue to divide housework tasks along traditional gender lines
Women are much more likely to do laundry and care for sick family members while men are more likely to do small repairs around the house. similar to the 1990’s

Question 32

How has the British time survey been criticized?

Answer 32

Does not measure the qualitative differences in the tasks men and women perform. Allen argues that the tasks women perform are less intrinsically satisfying

Question 33

What does Boulton contribute to childcare?

Answer 33

Although fathers may help with performing specific childcare tasks, it is usually the mothers who take responsibility for children’s security and well-being

Question 34

Who supports Boulton’s view on childcare and how?

Answer 34

Ferri and Smith - found fathers who took responsibility for childcare was in fewer than 4% of families

Dex and Warde - although fathers had quite high involvement levels with their child, when it came to caring for the sick child only 1% of fathers took main responsibility

Braun, Vincent and Ball - only 3 out of 70 families studied was the father the main carer - most were background fathers. Most fathers held provider ideology that their role was breadwinner while mothers saw themselves as primary carers

Question 35

What is the Triple shift?

Answer 35

Wives take on Emotion work - they are responsible for managing the feelings and emotions of family members, e.g. Sibling squabbles.

Dunscombe and Marsden argue that on top of Paid Work and Housework women perform emotion work creating a triple shift.

Question 36

What did Southerton suggest about Mothers?

Answer 36

Coordinating, scheduling and managing the families quality time usually falls to mothers

Question 37

Why has southerton’s view become more difficult in todays modern society?

Answer 37

Recent social changes such as the emergence of 24/7 society and flexible working patterns. These changes have led to peoples time being more fragmented and de routinized

Question 38

What does Southerton say about leisure time?

Answer 38

Although some studies now show that men and women have more or less equal amounts of leisure time they have different experiences of it. E.g. men are more likely to have consolidated blocks of uninterrupted leisure time whereas women’s leisure time is frequently interrupted by childcare

Women are more likely to multitask than men indicating that women are carrying a dual burden in which they face an increased volume of activities to be managed

Question 39

How do Crompton and Lyonette explain the unequal division of labour?

Answer 39

cultural or ideological explanation of inequality and material or economic explanation of inequality

Question 40

Explain Cultural or Ideological explanation of inequality

Answer 40

The division of labour is determined by patriarchal norms and values that shape gender roles in our culture. Women perform more domestic tasks because it is what society expects of them and they are socialised into

Question 41

Explain Material or Economic explanation of inequality

Answer 41

The fact women generally earn less that men means it is economically rational for women to do the housework and childcare while men spend time earning money

Question 42

What evidence does Gershuny provide as an explanation of cultural explanation for inequality?

Answer 42

couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share housework equally themselves, suggesting parental role models are important, he argues social values are gradually adapting to the fact more women work full time - establishing a new norm that men should do more domestic work

Question 43

What evidence does Man Yee Kan provide to support a cultural explanation of inequalities?

Answer 43

Found young men do more domestic work , according to Future Foundation men claimed to do more housework than their father and women claimed to do less than their mother , suggest a generational shift is occurring

Question 44

What evidence did British Social Attitudes survey provide to support a Cultural explanation for inequality?

Answer 44

found less than 10% of under 35’s agreed with traditional division of labour against 30% of the over-65’s. This indicates a long term change in the norms, values and attitudes reflecting changes in the gender role socialisation of the younger generation in favour of more equal relationships

Question 45

What evidence does Dunne provide to support a Cultural explanation for inequality?

Answer 45

Lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships because of the absence of traditional heterosexual gender scripts

Question 46

What evidence does Kan find to support a Material explanation for inequality?

Answer 46

for every £10,000 a year more the woman earns she does 2 less hours of housework a week

Question 47

What evidence does Arber and Ginn find to support a material explanation for inequality?

Answer 47

better paid middle class women were more able to buy in commercially produced products and services such as labour saving devices (hoover, dishwasher) domestic help and childcare rather than having to spend time carrying out labour intensive domestic tasks themselves

Question 48

What evidence does Xavier Ramos provide to support a material explanation for inequality?

Answer 48

found where women were the full-time breadwinner and the male was unemployed he does as much domestic housework and she does

Question 49

What evidence does Sullivan provide to support a material explanation of inequality?

Answer 49

Working full-time rather than part time makes the biggest difference in terms of how much domestics work each partner does , he suggests this may be because working full time brings a woman’s earnings closer to their partners

Question 50

What criticism is available of Women’s wages

Answer 50

They still earn less. In 7 out of 8 households men earn more mainly due to young children leading women to work part time. Crompton therefore concludes that there is no immediate prospect of a more equal division of labour if it depends upon economic equality of sexes

Question 51

What do Barrett and McIntosh note about decision making within the family?

Answer 51

Men gain far more from Women’s domestic work than they give back in financial support
Financial support given by husbands is often unpredictable and comes with ‘strings attached’
men usually make decisions on spending regarding important things

Question 52

What does Kempson find regarding how family members do not share resources equally ?

Answer 52

Among low income families women denied their own needs - eating smaller portions of food, not going out etc

Question 53

What results of women in many households believing they have no entitlement to a share of household resources

Answer 53

She sees any money spent on herself as money that should be spent on essentials for children

This can even be seen in households with adequate incomes

Question 54

What are the two types of control over family income according to Pahl and Vogler?

Answer 54

The allowance system - men give wives an allowance out of which they have a budget to meet family needs with men retaining surplus income for himself

Pooling- where both partners have access to income and joint responsibility for expenditure (joint bank account) - pooling is on the increase and is now the most common money management

Question 55

Which type of money management is more common among couples where both partners work full-time ?

Answer 55

Pooling as it indicates more equality in decision making and control over resources

Question 56

What happens when pooled income is controlled by the husband ?

Answer 56

Gives men more power in major financial decisions

Question 57

What did Pahl and Vogler find even when there was equal pooling

Answer 57

Men still usually make the major financial decisions

Question 58

What did Irene Hardills study of 30 dual career professional couples find?

Answer 58

Important decisions were usually taken by the man alone or jointly with the man having the final say. His career normally took priority when deciding whether to move house

Question 59

What did Edgells study of professional couples find?

Answer 59

Very important decisions - involving finance - were taken by husband alone of jointly with husband having final say

Important decisions - children’s education or holidays - taken jointly or by the wife alone

Less important decisions - choice of home decor- made by the wife

Question 60

What does edgell argue as the reason why men are more likely to take the decisions more

Answer 60

Men earn more , women usually earn less than husbands and are economically dependent on them therefore have less decision making power

Question 61

What evidence Laurie and Gershuny find showing a limited move towards greater equality?

Answer 61

In 1995 - 70% of couples said they had an equal say in decision
Significantly though, they found women who were high earning , well qualified professionals were more likely to have an equal say

Question 62

What is the material explanation of gender inequality

Answer 62

Gershuny and Laurie

Question 63

What is the cultural explanation of gender inequalities

Answer 63

Patriarchal society deeply ingrains men as decision makers from gender role socialisation until this is challenged decision making will remain unequal

Question 64

Why does Paul note that pooling of money doesn’t mean there is equality ?

Answer 64

Need to know who controls pooled money, whether both partners contribute equally

Question 65

What does pahl note about keeping money separate ?

Answer 65

That is does not mean inequality - cohabiting couple are less likely to pool as a desire to maintain independence but they are more likely to share domestic tasks equally

Question 66

What does Nyman point out regarding the meaning of money in couples?

Answer 66

Money has no automatic and fixed meaning different couples define it in different ways - these meaning can change the nature of a relationship