Wilmott + Young - The Symmetrical Family

Question 1

The March of Progress

Answer 1

• Wilmott and Young conducted research into family life in East London in the 1950s and early 1970s using large scale social surveys
• They developed Yan idea of the family developing through a number of stages through history - a march of progress
• An important concept for Willmott & Young was stratified diffusion - changes in norms and values start among the wealthier in society and pass down to lower classes

Question 2

Stages of the Family

Answer 2

• Wilmott and Young suggested that family moved through a series of stages predicted how family life would be organised in future generations
  Stage 1 - Pre-industrial family
  Stage 2 - Early industrial family
  Stage 3 - Symmetrical family
  Stage 4 - Asymmetrical family

Question 3

Pre-industrial family

Answer 3

• This type of family was based in rural areas and worked in agriculture
• The family operated together, with men, women and children working on land and in the home
• Family was a unit of production - it produced its own goods for their own consumption, with any surplus traded with others in return for other goods

Question 4

Early industrial family

Answer 4

• Typified by family life following on from the Industrial Revolution - Families would move to urban areas and become employed in new industries such as manufacturing
• Families became a unit of consumption, exchanging labour in return for wages
• Extended family networks in new towns and cities served a function for early industrial family, providing education and childcare whilst adults worked
• Male and Female time was separate, with women staying with family and men with fellow workers

Question 5

Symmetrical Family

Answer 5

• Symmetrical Family developed from greater prosperity in post-war period
• Self-sufficient nuclear families had replaced kinship networks
• Men and Women shared leisure time, joint conjugal roles developed, but a division of tasks was still gender based
• Males and Female employment, although based on gendered stereotypes

Question 6

Asymmetrical family

Answer 6

• Wilmott and Young predicted that the asymmetrical family organisation of upper classes would move down to working class
• Richer families had segregated conjugal roles, women employed helpers in home and they spent leisure time apart
• Limited application to current social hierarchy, particularly W/C families

Question 7

Evaluations of Wilmott and Young

Answer 7

• The reality was different according to feminist critics - women suffered a dual burden and triple shift of paid employment, domestic labour and emotional support of family
• Stratified diffusion has limited application to society - as income inequality grows, lower classes cannot afford to access opportunities the same way the upper classes can
• Doesn’t take into account the greater diversity of family types that were present outside of nuclear family