Couples Theorists

Parsons (1955) division of labour

Husband instrumental role - The breadwinner

Wife expressive role- The homemaker

Young and Willmott (1962) Criticisms of division of labour

Men are now taking a greater share of domestic tasks and more wives are becoming wage-earners

Elizabeth Bott (1957)

Segregated conjugal roles and Joint conjugal roles

Young and Willmott Traditional working-class extended families in East London (1950) identifying segregated conjugal roles and symmetrical families

Men were breadwinners, played little part in home life and leisure time spend with workmates and in pubs. Women were full time housewives with sole responsibility for housework and childcare, limited leisure time spent with female kin.

Young and Willmott (1973)

Symmetrical families more common among younger couples, as a result of major social changes: Changes in women’s position, Geographical mobility, New Technology, High standards of living

Oakley (1974) Research on housewives

15% husbands had a high level of participation in housework

25% had a high level of participation in childcare.

Husband took more pleasurable aspects of childcare, giving more time for wives to do housework.

Mary Boulton (1983) supporting Oakley’s findings

20% of husbands have a major role in childcare.

Warde and Heterington (1993) sex-typing domestic tasks

Wives were 30x more likely to be the last person to have done the washing. Husbands were 4x more likely to be the last person to wash the car.

Shift in younger men

Jonathan Gershuny (1994) The March of progress view of gender division

Women in paid work leads to a more equal division of labour at home as men become more involved in housework and childcare

Oriel Sullivan (2000) March of progress view

Nationally representative data collected in 1975, 1987 and 1997 - an increase in the number of couples with an equal division of labour - men participating more in traditional ‘women’s’ tasks.

British Social Attitudes survey (2013)

Less people think it is the man’s job to earn money and the woman’s job to look after home and family.

1984, 45% men and 41% women agreed

By 2012 only 13% men and 12% women agreed.

British Social Attitudes Survey (2013

Overall, women did twice as much as men. 60% of women felt this division of labour was unjust.

Couples divide household tasks along traditional gender lines. These patterns were much the same as they had been in 1994.

Graham Allan (1985)

Women’s tasks are less intrinsically satisfying.

Taking responsibility for children (Boulton (1983)

Points out that although fathers may help by performing specific childcare tasks, it is usually the mother who takes responsibility for the child’s security and well-being.

Ferri and Smith (1996)

Found that fathers took responsibility for childcare in less than 4% of families.

Dex and Ward (2007) Responsibilites of children

78% played with their children but when it came to caring for a sick child, only 1% of fathers took the main responsibility

Braun, Vincent and Ball (2011) Responsibilities of children

Only 3/70 families the father was the main carer but most were ‘background fathers’ and held a ‘provider ideology’

Russel Hochschild (2013)

Women are often responsible for managing emotions and feelings of family members

Duncombe and Marsden (1995)

Women have to perform a triple shift of housework, paid work and emotion work

Southerton (2011)

Scheduling the family’s quality time is mother’s responsibility. In modern society, quality time is becoming ‘de-routinised’ due to mothers juggling leisure, family, work, social activities.

Men are more likely to experiences ‘blocks’ of uninterrupted leisure time, where women’s leisure is often punctuated by childcare

Crompton and Lyonette (2008)

The cultural explanation - Patriarchal norms and values that shape gender roles.

Material explanation - women generally earn less than men making it economically rational for women do to more housework and childcare whilst men earn money.

Hershuny (1994) Cultural explanation for gender division

Couples whose parents had a more equal relationship are more likely to share housework

Kan (2001) Cultural explanation for gender division

Younger men do more domestic work. Future foundation (2000) most men claimed to do more housework than their father and women less than their mother - generational shift in behaviour.

Gillian Dunne (1999)

Lesbian couples had more symmetrical relationships due to the absence of ‘gender scripts’

Kan Material explanation for gender division

For every £10,000 a year more a woman earns, she does two hours less housework per week.

Arber and Ginn (1995) material explanation for gender division

Middle-class women were more able to buy in commercially produced products and services rather than having to spend time carrying out labour-intensive domestic tasks themselves

Ramos (2003) Material explanation for gender division

Where a woman is a full-time breadwinner and the man is unemployed, he does as much domestice labour as she does.

Sullivan Material explanation for gender division

Working full-time / part-time makes a big difference to the divison of domestic work

Barret and McIntosh (1991)

Men gain far more from women’s domestic work than they give back in financial support as it often comes with ‘strings’ attached

Elaine Kempson (1994) Research

Among low income families, women denied their own needs rarely go out, eat smaller portions or skip meals in order to make ends meet and is likely to see anything she spends on herself as money that ought to be spent on the children.

Pahl and Vogler (1993)

The allowance system and pooling

Even when there was pooling, men usually made the major financial decisions

Hardill’s (1997)

Study of 30 dual-career professional couples - Important decisions were usually taken either by the man alone or jointly. His career normally took priority when deciding whether to move house for a new job.

Finch (1983)

Women’s lives tend to be structured around their husbands careers

Stephen Edgell’s (1980)

Very important decisions (finance, moving house) - The husband has the final say

Important decisions (children’s education, holiday) - Usually jointly, rarely the wife alone

Less important decisions (home decor, childrens clothes, food) - Usually made by wife

Due to earning more

Laurie and Gershuny (2000) Material explanation for decision making

In 1995, 70% of couples said they had an equal say in decisions - women who were high earning, well qualified professions were more likely to have an equal say

Cultural explanation for decision making

Feminists argue that inequalities in decision-making are a due to the patriarchal society and the cultural definition of men as decision-makers ingrained through gender role socialisation.

Vogler et al

Cohabiting couples were less likely to pool their money and more likely to share domestic tasks equally

Charlott Nyman (2003)

Money has no automatic, fixed or natural meaning and coupes define it in different way, reflecting the nature of the relationship.

Carol Smart (2007) personal life perspective on money

Some gay men and lesbians did not care for who controlled the money in the relationship

Weeks et al (2001) personal life perspective on money

Typical pattern was pooling money for household spending and seperate accounts for personal spending - co-independence.