evaluate the view that the division of labour and power relationships in couples are equal in modern family life (20)

introduction

march of progress - yes

feminists - no

power - no

paragraph 1 - they’re not equal

functionalists

men = instrumental

women = expressive

see this as the natural roles people should take

paragraph 2 - they are equal

March of Progress - Young and Wilmmot (older)

* families are becoming more symmetrical
* more common among younger couples who are geo + socially isolated
* result of - change in womens position, geo mobility, new tech, increased living standards

paragraph 3 - they’re not equal

feminist view of housework

* reject the march or progress view
* Ann Oakley (1974) - Y + W found that most husbands helped out once a week, but this could include making breakfast once or taking kids on a walk - not enough.
* Oakley - 15% of husbands had high levels of participation in housework, and 25% childcare. - take part in the most pleasurable parts of parenting eg. play
* Kevin Hetherington (1993) - women 30X likely to be the last person to do laundry, and men 4x for working on the car

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newer -

2012 survey - housework → men = 8h, women = 13h. caring for family members → men = 10h, women = 23h. - 60% of women felt this was unjust

Graham Allan - women take on less intrinsically satisfying or obvious tasks

paragraph 4 - they are equal

march of progress view - (newer)

Jonathon Gurshuny (1994) - women in full time work do less housework than other women, and experience more equal division

Orial Sulivan (2000) - analysis of nat data (1975,87,97) - women doing less, men doing more, more equal couples

Attitudes survey (2013) - ‘its a mans job to earn money’. 1984 - 44% of men + 41% of women agreed. 2012 - 13% of men + 12% of women agreed

paragraph 5 - they’re not equal

responsibility

* surveys only focus on share of time and tasks, not responsibility

Boulton (1983) - mothers take resp for kids security + wellbeing

Ferri + Smith (1996) fathers take resp for child care in >4% of fams

Braun, Vincent + Ball (2011) - studied 70 fams, only 1/3 of fathers were the main carers

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responsibility for quality time:

* Dale Southerton (2011) this usually falls to mothers
* however - more difficult now as people’s time has become ‘de-routinised’ , and quality time is rarer due to demands of work etc.
* men experience ‘blocks’ of leisure time, but women’s is often punctuated by childcare - dual burden (multi - tasking)

paragraph 6 - they’re not equal

power

decision making:

Michael Barett + Mary McLntosh (1991) - men gain more from women’s DL than they give back in financial support, this financial support is unpredictable and comes with strings attached

John Paul + Carolyn Vogler (1993) - two main systems, allowance system (men give an allowance to their wives) or pooling

pooling is the most modern and common, however it’s not always equal, it depends who controls it, who contributes the most - especially as a % of income

Stephen Edgell (1980) :

very important - eg. finance,moving - husband has final say

important - eg. education, holidays - usually joint, never solely the wife

less important - eg. food, clothes - wife

Irene Hardill (1997) - mens careers take priority when deciding whether to move for a new job

paragraph 7 - they are equal

power

Opinium research survey 2011 - 3/5 married couples consult on ALL financial decisions, 44% of working women and 53% of working men are solely resp

Laurie + Gershuny (2000) - by 1955 70% of couples said they had equal say in decisions

conclusion

they are becoming more equal due to changes in employment, society, law etc. but feminists would argue we still have a long way to go