gender roles and domestic labour

Functionalist View

• Parsons (1956) argues that the nuclear family divides roles based on biological differences:

  • Instrumental role (male): Breadwinner, responsible for financial support

  • Expressive role (female): Caregiver, responsible for emotional support, socialisation of children, and household management

• Parsons claims this division promotes family stability and benefits wider society

• However, feminists argue that Parsons’ view is patriarchal, assuming roles are 'natural' when they are socially constructed

Joint & segregated conjugal roles

• Conjugal roles refer to how married or cohabiting couples share tasks and responsibilities

• Bott (1957) studied families using in-depth interviews with working- and middle-class couples in the 1950s and identified two different types of conjugal roles

• Many families are moving towards joint conjugal roles, reflecting increased equality and shared responsibilities

Joint & segregated conjugal roles - segregated

• Clear division of tasks by gender (e.g., men handle repairs, women do cooking and cleaning)

• Leisure activities and social lives are separate

• Roles are separate and unequal

• More common among working-class couples

Joint & segregated conjugal roles - joint

• Partners share tasks, leisure time, and financial decision-making, with no rigid division of labour

• Couples are more likely to have experienced geographical mobility

• Roles are collaborative and equal

• More common among middle-class couples.

The symmetrical family

• Young and Willmott (1973) wrote from a functionalist perspective and described a 'march of progress' towards symmetrical families

• This is where husbands and wives:

  • Share housework, childcare, and leisure time

  • Have joint conjugal roles, aided by

    • rising female employment

    • new technology

    • higher living standards

The symmetrical family - reasons for symmetry: feminism and legal changes

• The rise of feminism since the 1960s has shifted women’s attitudes toward education, careers, and equality, leading many to reject the traditional housewife role

• Legal reforms, such as the Equal Pay Act (1970) and Sex Discrimination Act (1975), improved women’s workplace status and economic independence

• Access to effective contraception allows women to plan childbirth, giving them greater control over their lives

• Many women are now financially independent, which has increased their freedom, equality, and bargaining power in relationships.

The symmetrical family - reasons for symmetry: technology and home-based leisure

Advances in home-based leisure (e.g., gaming, sports, streaming services) encourage men to spend more time at home and participate in family life

The symmetrical family - reasons for symmetry: geographical mobility

Couples are more likely to live away from extended families, reducing traditional family pressures and encouraging greater equality in household roles

strength of the symmetrical family - evidence of symmetry

• Evidence of symmetry

  • Gershuny (1994) found that husbands of full-time working wives do more housework, while women in these households do less domestic work

  • Pahl and Wallace (1981) and Laurie and Gershuny (2000) suggest that as women’s earning power rises, decision-making becomes more equal

weaknesses of the symmetrical family - feminist criticism

• Feminist criticism

  • Liberal feminist Ann Oakley (1974) found that only 15% of husbands were highly involved in housework and 25% in childcare

  • Fathers tend to engage in 'fun' tasks, while mothers manage the daily care and emotional needs of children

  • The 'symmetrical family' remains largely a myth, as domestic labour continues to be gendered

weaknesses of the symmetrical family - marriage penalty

• Marriage penalty

  • Craig (2007) found that women’s unpaid domestic work increases after marriage, while husbands contribute less

  • A survey of 1000 men and women by the BBC's Woman's Hour (2014) found that modern marriages are marked by 'chore wars' due to ongoing disputes over housework

weaknesses of the symmetrical family - dual burden/ double shift

• The dual burden or 'double shift'

  • Women still handle both paid work and the majority of domestic tasks

  • There is little evidence of the 'new man' who does an equal share of housework and childcare

  • McKee and Bell (1986) found that even in families where the man is unemployed, women do most of the housework and childcare

  • Man-yee Kan (2001) found that educated women spend about two hours less on chores than women with lower qualifications, but inequality remains

weaknesses of the symmetrical family - leisure inequality

• Leisure inequality

  • Men’s leisure time is more uninterrupted, while women’s is often disrupted by childcare and multitasking, showing the persistence of the dual burden.

weaknesses of the symmetrical family - the triple shift

• The triple shift

  • Duncombe & Marsden (1993) argue that women manage paid work, domestic tasks, and emotional work, such as resolving family tensions

  • Bittman and Pixley (1997) suggest inequalities in the distribution of childcare, housework, and emotional work are the main cause of divorce in the UK

Explaining the unequal division of labour - cultural or ideological explanation

• Traditional gender norms and socialisation push men and women into conventional roles

  Women are expected to handle housework and childcare, as this is viewed as their natural role

  True equality will only occur when these cultural norms and expectations change

Explaining the unequal division of labour - cultural or ideological explanation research evidence

• Gershuny (1994) found that couples whose parents had an equal domestic division of labour were more likely to share housework themselves, suggesting that norms are gradually changing

• Man-yee Kan (2001) found that younger men do more domestic work than previous generations, while women report doing less – indicating a generational shift

• Dunne (1999) found that Lesbian couples were more likely to have symmetrical relationships due to the absence of traditional gender scripts

Explaining the unequal division of labour - material or economic explanation

• Women often earn less than men, reinforcing the idea that domestic work is 'their responsibility'

• Greater financial equality leads to a fairer division of housework

Explaining the unequal division of labour - material or economic explanation research evidence

• Kan (2008) found that for every £10,000 a woman earns more than her partner, she does two hours less housework per week

• Arber and Ginn (1995) found that middle-class women can buy domestic help or childcare, easing their workload

• Sullivan (2000) found that working full-time rather than part-time significantly reduces a woman’s share of domestic tasks

Explaining the unequal division of labour - feminist explanations

• Paid work has improved equality only slightly – women still bear the dual or triple burden of paid work, housework, and emotional labour

• Patriarchy shapes both domestic expectations and workplace inequalities:

  • Women are often paid less, reducing their bargaining power in the home

  • Domestic tasks remain gendered, with women expected to take primary responsibility

• Feminists argue that real equality in the domestic division of labour will only happen when patriarchal norms in both society and the workplace are fully challenged