Family: Domestic Division Of Labour

Question 1

What do functionalists say about the domestic division of labour?

Answer 1

Men and women have traditional roles. Men have the instrumental role (working) and women have the expressive role (mother and homemaker). Parsons says these are functional for society

Question 2

How has the domestic division of Labour changed?

Answer 2

There has been a move from segregated (separate) conjugal (roles within marriage) roles to joint conjugal roles

Question 3

What do Young and Willmott say about the domestic division of Labour?

Answer 3

They believe that family life is not equal but there is a march of progress towards a more symmetrical family. People do similar but not identical jobs. This is the idea that couples do share more jobs however there may still be male and female jobs such as BBQ for men and cleaning for women

Question 4

What is the negative evaluative point of the symmetrical family?

Answer 4

Oakley 1978 - Families are still male dominated and patriarchal

Question 5

What is the positive evaluative point of the symmetrical family?

Answer 5

British Social Attitudes Survey 1913

There is a drop in people thinking traditional roles are okay

Question 6

How can the gender division of Labour be explained?

Answer 6

• Cultural or ideological explanations of inequality: patriarchal norms and values that shape the gender roles in our culture
• Material or economic explanation of inequality: women generally earn less than men meaning it is economically rational for them to do more housework

Question 7

Suggest evidence for cultural explanations of inequalities?

Answer 7

Gershuny 1994
Couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share housework equally.

British social attitudes survey 2013
Less than 10% of under 35s agreed with a traditional division of Labour. This is because they were brought up by working mums

Question 8

Suggest evidence for material explanations of inequalities?

Answer 8

Arber and Ginn 1995
Better paid women buy in domestic services

Dunne
Study on Lesbian couples found they are more likely to share housework and childcare. Those who wasn’t less did more housework. When there is no patriarchy someone still does more.

Question 9

What is domestic violence?

Answer 9

A sequence of coercive or controlling behaviour/ abuse against those 16 and over whom are or were members of a relationship

Question 10

How many people commit domestic violence?

Answer 10

The crime Survey for England and Wales (2013)
2,000,000 reporter being victims during 2012. Accounts for 1/6 of all reported violent crimes. However there is little between the gender gap.
7.3% of women
5% of men

Question 11

Why might the statistics of domestic violence be wrong?

Answer 11

It is the severity and frequency of the events that are important

Women suffered much more severe violence and we’d more likely to be fearful of their partners
It is hard to separate cases of domestic violence because they may be continuous 
David Cheal (1991) the police are reluctant to investigate domestic violence because they don’t want to interfere with the family. They believe it is a private sphere

Question 12

According to feminists like Filestone what is the explanation for domestic violence?

Answer 12

All men are violent as society is dominated by patriarchy
Radical feminists like Filestone 1970 believe that societies are founded on patriarchy and men are the enemy because they oppress women. Family and marriages are key institutions of patriarchy and it gives men the opportunity to dominate through domestic violence,

Question 13

What does Wilkinson and Pickett (2010) say is the cause of domestic violence?

Answer 13

Domestic violence is caused by the stress of modern life. They focus on the materialistic/economic as to why certain groups are more at risk than others. Those that have less power/ status/ wealth/ income are at a greater risk

Question 14

According to National statistics who are more at risk of domestic violence?

Answer 14

Young women
Those in lower social class and in deprived areas
Low income families
Those in shared/rented accommodation
High level of alcohol consumption
Those with a long term illness/disability

Question 15

What are the statistics of men suffering domestic violence?

Answer 15

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (2013)

18% of men / 2.9 million have experienced domestic violence since the age of 16

Question 16

What are the three trends in decision making in the household?

Answer 16

There is inequality in who gets what and some women are more likely to go without

Even in dual careers men are more likely to make decisions

Women who earn more have more to say

Question 17

What does Elaine Kempson say about decision making in the household?

Answer 17

There is inequality in who gets what and some women go without.
Kempson found that people with lower incomes deny their own needs. They eat smaller portions or skip meals altogether. Women from adequate incomes see themselves as having no entitlement to resources. Resources should be provided more to the children/partner

Question 18

What does Irene Hardills say about the decision making in the household?

Answer 18

In dual careers men are more likely to make the decisions. In a study into 30-dual income families she found decisions were made jointly or by the man. The males career to priority over whether they moved house.

Question 19

What is meant by the allowance system?

Answer 19

Men give their wives allowance to budget in family needs leaving surplus to the man. It an economic system of the decision making in household.

Question 20

What is meant by pooling?

Answer 20

This is a much more common economic system of decision making. It looks at a joint account for shared access to money in the household- the man still has the opportunity to exploit this.

Question 21

What does Gershunny say about decision making in the household?

Answer 21

Women who earn more have more to say. He found that in 1995 70% of couples said thy had equal say, and more qualified professionals were more likely to agree.

Question 22

What does the Personal life perspective say about decision making in the household?

Answer 22

It outlines the meaning that people give to who controls the money. Carol Smart 2007 did a study on same sex couples. She found that they did not see the control of money meaning inequality. There is greater freedom in same sex couples because they don’t enter relationships with the historical heterosexual beliefs that money is a source of power