Families & Households - Gender Roles & 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, household management

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

• However, feminists argue 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 w/c and m/c couples in the 1950s and identified two different types of conjugal roles:

• Segregated Conjugal Roles:

  • 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 (w/c) couples

• Joint Conjugal Roles:

  • 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 more equal

  • More common among middle-class (m/c) couples

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

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

Reasons for Symmetry - Feminism and Legal Changes

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

• Legal reforms like 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 (introduced by the Family Planning Act 1967)

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

Contraception Acts UK

1961: The contraceptive pill was introduced on the NHS but ONLY for married women

1967: The National Health Service (Family Planning) Act 1967 allowed local health authorities to provide contraceptive advice and supplies to all women, regardless of marital status

1974: Family planning clinics were fully integrated into the NHS and finally permitted to prescribe the pill to single, unmarried women

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

Geographical Mobility

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

Strengths of the Symmetrical Family Argument

Evidence of symmetry

• Gershuny (1994) found 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

Feminist Criticisms of the Symmetrical Family Argument

• 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

Marriage Penalty as a Criticism of the Symmetrical Family Argument

• Craig (2007) found 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

The Dual Burden as a Criticism of the Symmetrical Family Argument

• Dual burden = women take on both paid labour and unpaid labour

• 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

Leisure Time as a Criticism of the Symmetrical Family Argument

• Men’s leisure time = more uninterrupted

• Women’s is disrupted by childcare and multitasking

The Triple Shift as a Criticism of the Symmetrical Family Argument

• 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

• Although some progress has been made towards equality, domestic work and childcare remain unequally shared

• Crompton and Lyonette (2008) outline two main explanations for this inequality:

  • Cultural/ideological

  • Material/economic factors

Cultural or ideological explanation

• Trad 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 shift

What did Gershuny (1994) find?

That couples whose parents had an equal domestic division of labour were more likely to share housework themselves, suggesting norms are gradually changing

What did Man-yee Kan (2001) find?

That younger men do more domestic work than previous generations, while women report doing less - indicating a generational shift

What did Dunne (1999) find?

That Lesbian couples were more likely to have symmetrical relationships due to the absence of traditional gender scripts

Material/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

What did Kan (2008) find?

For every £10,000 a woman earns more than her partner, she does 2 hours LESS housework per week

What did Arber and Ginn (1995) find?

That m/c women can buy domestic help or childcare, easing their workload

What did Sullivan (2000) find?

That working full-time rather than part-time significantly reduces a woman’s share of domestic tasks

Feminist Explanations of Paid Work

• 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 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

The Triple Shift Theory

Coined by Duncome and Marsden in 1995

Refers to three distinct forms of labour working women juggle: paid employment, unpaid domestic work, and emotional work

Sharing of Resources

• Inequalities exist in domestic labour and the distribution of income and resources

Barrett & McIntosh (1991):

• Men gain more from women’s unpaid domestic work than they provide in financial support

• Men’s financial contributions can be irregular and conditional

• Men often have greater control over major spending decisions

• Money and resources (e.g. food) are not shared equally within families

Kempson (1994):

• In low-income households, women often sacrifice their own needs

• Many mothers eat less or go without to ensure their children are fed

Money Management Patterns

Feminist sociologists Pahl and Vogler (1993) identified two main systems of financial control:

1. Allowance system: men give wives a set budget for household costs while retaining control over remaining income

2. Pooling system: couples share their income and make spending decisions jointly

However, Pooling does not guarantee equality as one partner (often the man) may still dominate financial decisions

Personal Life Perspective on Money

Focuses on the meanings couples attach to money management, rather than assuming financial control always reflects power imbalance

What did Nyman (2003) Find? (Personal Life Perspective on Money)

The significance of money depends on how couples interpret who controls it

What did Vogler et al (2006) Find? (Personal Life Perspective on Money)

Cohabiting couples are less likely to pool their income, often valuing financial independence

What did Weeks et al (2001) Find? (Personal Life Perspective on Money)

Many couples pool money for shared bills but maintain separate accounts for personal spending

What did Smart (2007) Find? (Personal Life Perspective on Money)

Same-sex couples often view money management as reflecting equality and independence rather than control

Decision Making

• Where the husband controls pooled income, this tends to give men more power in major financial decisions

• Edgell (1980): Men are more likely to make important financial decisions (e.g. property or car purchases), while women tend to handle day-to-day expenses (e.g. groceries)

  • Men’s higher earnings often give them more financial influence

• Laurie and Gershuny (2000): By 1995, 70% of couples reported an equal say in decisions, particularly where women were high earners or had professional careers

Cultural and Material Factors

• Crompton and Lyonette (2008) suggest that inequalities in financial decision-making arise from:

  • Cultural/ideological factors: Traditional gender roles teach men to dominate finances

  • Material factors: Men often earn more, giving them more control over household income

Domestic Violence Definition according to Women’s Aid

‘An incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence, in the majority of cases by a partner or ex-partner, but also by a family member or carer’

Prevalence of Domestic Violence

• The Crime Survey for England and Wales (2024) estimated that 2.3 million people aged 16+ experienced domestic abuse

• Men are the main perpetrators

• Dobash & Dobash (1979) found DV often arises when men feel their authority is challenged (e.g. when wives question late arrivals home)

• They argue marriage legitimises male power, creating female dependency and normalising violence

Gender Gap of Domestic Violence

• Most victims are women

• In 2024, 1.6 million women and 712,000 men were victims of DV

• Walby and Allen (2006) found women were far more likely to experience repeated abuse and sexual violence

• Ansara and Hindin (2011) note that women are more likely to be fearful of their partners

• Dar (2013) highlights that DV incidents are difficult to quantify, as abuse may be continuous rather than discrete

Issues with Official Statistics

• DV is underreported and underrecorded due to:

  • Victim’s reluctance to report (fear of reprisals, seeing it as trivial, believing police won’t act)

  • Police and prosecutors often view the family as a private sphere or as inherently ‘good’, ignoring its darker side

  • The assumption that individuals are free agents e.g. women are “free to leave” downplays structural barriers

Crompton and Lyonette’s (2008) explanation of domestic violence

• The radical feminist explanation emphasises the role of patriarchal ideas, cultural values and institutions

• The materialist explanation emphasises economic factors such as lack of resources

Radical Feminist explanation of domestic violence

• Millett (1970) and Firestone (1970) argue DV is rooted in patriarchy, with men using violence to control women

• The family and marriage are viewed as key institutions of women’s oppression

• Male domination of the state means DV is often ignored/poorly policed

Evaluation of Radical Feminist Explanation of DV

• Faith Robertson Elliot (1996) notes that not all men are violent, and women can also be perpetrators (including lesbian relationships)

• Radical feminists assume all women are equally at risk but fail to account for differences

  • E.g. young women aged 16-19, women with disabilities, separated/divorced women, those on low income, and single parents are more vulnerable (ONS 2024)

Materialist Explanation for Domestic Violence

Wilkinson & Pickett (2010) – Domestic Violence

• Link domestic violence (DV) to social inequality and financial stress, rather than patriarchy alone

• Low-income families experience higher stress levels, increasing the risk of conflict and violence

• Those with less power, status, and wealth are more vulnerable to abuse

Evaluation

• Explains class differences in DV rates but not why women are the main victims

• Marxist feminists argue DV results from capitalist exploitation, with men displacing workplace frustrations onto women

• However, this does not explain why most men are not violent or why women can also be perpetrators of DV