Family and Households: Gender Division of Labour Flashcards
To explore how sociologists view how labour is divided in the home
How does Willmott and Young view gender division?
They take a ‘march of progress’ approach. They view the family slowly getting away from segregated conjugal roles, becoming more democratic and upholding joint conjugal roles.
Example of Joint conjugal roles:
-Women go to work
-Men help with housework and childcare
-Couples spent leisure time together apposed to apart
They found that in London (using structured interviews), the symmetrical family is more common. They see the rise in this family type due to factors:
-Changes in women’s position, including married women going out to work
-Geographical mobility – more couples living away from the communities in which they grew up
-New technology and labour-saving devices
-Higher standards of living.
These factors are interlinked, households with women who work have more money to buy labour saving appliances which encourage men to do house work.
What are the criticism of Willmott and Young? Who is their biggest critic?
Anne Oakley is super critical of them, as they exaggerate the equality in the family. Just because husbands help out their wife one a week does not mean the family is ‘symmetrical’.
In her own research she found only 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework, and only 25% had a high level of participation in childcare. Husbands are more likely to share in childcare, but only the most pleasurable aspects.
Most couples defined a good father as someone who played with the children, taking the kids out of their mothers hands. However this robs the mother of all the ‘rewards of childcare’
It’s not symmetry, men cherry pick the fun roles, whilst women are stuck with a dual burden.
How do feminists view the division of labour?
Oakley argues the family is not symmetrical, only 15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework, and only 25% had a high level of participation in childcare.
Men cherry pick the fun roles, whereas women are stuck with a dual burden
Mary Boulton (1983) found that fewer than 20% of husbands had a major role in childcare. She argues that Young and Willmott exaggerate men’s contribution by looking at the tasks involved in childcare rather than the responsibilities. A father might help with specific tasks, but it was almost always the mother who was responsible for the child’s security and well-being.
Warde and Hetherington (1993) found that sex-typing of domestic tasks remained strong. For example, wives were 30 times more likely to be the last person to have done the washing, while husbands were four times more likely to be the last person to wash the car.
They argue that men only do ‘female’ tasks if their partners are not around to do it. However they do acknowledge that there is a change in attitude with younger men.
How does Parsons view the division of labour?
Men have an instrumental role, this means they provide the bread with their labour.
Women have the expressive role, they maintain the household and childcare. Being a full time home-maker and keeping the family’s emotional needs fulfilled.
This gender division is based in biology, as these are the roles that naturally suit the genders. So this division is mutually beneficial.
Criticism of Parsons view on the division of labour?
Willmott and Young would argue the family is increasingly becoming symmetrical since women joined the work force.
Feminists reject the appeal to nature, they do not see women as naturally subservient and view that the division of labour only benefit the men.
Arguments the family is more equal
Willmot and Young - Family is symmetrical
Gershuny - Women working full time leads to more equal divisions of labour
Sullivan - Analysed nationally representative data and found a trend of women a smaller share of work over time. from 1975-1997 there is a 14% decrease in the women’s share of domestic labour.
Arguments the family is not equal.
British Social Attitudes (2013), the longitudinal study shows that household tasks are still divided with gender roles. For example in 2012, 70% of women always did the laundry
Cultural explanation of gender division of labour?
The way labour is divided, its based on the attitudes and values of the household. Over time these attitudes have been changing
Gershuny (1994), found children with more equal parents are more likely to be equal in their relationships.
Kan (2001) Younger men do more domestic work, and Future Foundation (2000) found out that most men claimed to do more housework than their father
The British Social Attitudes survey (2013) found that less than 10% of under-35s agreed with a traditional division of labour, as against 30% of the over-65s. This is evidence of a shift in norms.
Dunne (1999) found that lesbian couples had more symmetrical roles due to the absence of hetrosexual ‘gender scripts’
Material explanation of gender divison.
This argues that as women participate more equally in the work force. They do less labour at home.
Kan found that for every £10,000 a year more a woman earns, she does two hours less housework per week.
