The Domestic Division of Labour

The Domestic Division of Labour

1. Functionlism

   • Bott
     • Segregated Conjugal roles- clear differentiation of tasks & separate hobbies
     • Joint Conjugal roles- carrying out tasks together and relaxing together
   • Parsons
     • Expressive role- nurturing role
     • Instrumental role- the provider
   • Willmott & Young
     • March of Progress- move from segregated to integrated conjugal roles
     • Symmetrical Family- the roles in the house become more similar
       • Strengths
         • More equality for women
         • Couples spend more leisure time together
         • Men can help with the housework & childcare
       • Limitations
         • Doesn't consider other cultures/working class families
   • Future Foundation- 60% out of 1,000 men claimed to do more housework than their fathers, 75% of women claimed to do less than their mother
   • The New Man- young men are sharing the household chores equally/more than women

2. Feminism

   • Reject the "March of Progress", argue that little has changed & inequality remains in households
   • Oakley- 15% of husbands had a high level of participation, 25% had a high level of childcare
   • Man Yee Kan- found better-paid,younger,better-educated women did less housework
   • Dunne- little change, "gender scripts" that women are expected to play
   • Compton & Lyonette
     • Cultural explanation of inequality
       • Patriarchal norms & values that are reinforced within society
     • Material explanation of inequality
       • Since women earn less, it's more rational for men to go out to work and earn, whilst women care for children
   • Dual burden- paid work and house work
   • Triple shift- paid work and house work and emotional support
   • Liberal Feminists
     • Inequality is gradually being overcome through legal reforms & policy changes

3. Lesbian Couples & Gender Scripts

   • Dunne
     • Lesbians will describe their relationships as equal, equal importance to both careers and view childcare positively
     • Heterosexuals are under pressure to conform to masc/fem gender scripts
       • Supports radical feminists belief that heterosexual couples are inevitable patriarchal
     • If one partner did more paid work, the domestic work would be unequal- paid work has an important influence on the division of labour
   • Weeks- same-sex couples offer greater possibilities of equality- division of labour is open to negotiation & not based on patriarchal tradition

4. Postmodernism

   • Giddens- couples are free to define their relationships because of the greater equality
   • Beck
     • Tradition has less influence & people have more choice
     • Negotiated family- don't conform to traditonal family norm, and it's according to the wishes and expectations of the members

5. Decision Making & Money Management

   • Edgell
     • Very Important Decisions- decided by husband e.g. moving house
     • Important Decisions- jointly decided e.g. holidays
     • Less Important Decisions- decided by wife e.g. what food to eat
   • Pahl and Vogler
     • Pooling System- couple share income and have joint bank account
     • Allowance System- husband gives wife a proportion of his income to meet the family needs

6. Personal Life Perspective

   • Focus on the meanings the couple give to money
   • Weeks et al- many cohabiting couples pooled some income for housespending, kept the rest for indivdual spending
   • Smart- same-sex couples didn't attach any importance to who controlled the money (greater freedom)

7. Domestic Violence

   • Women's Aid Federation 2008- physical, psychological, sexual or financial violence that takes plac within an intimate/family type relationship & forms a pattern of coercive & controlling behaviours
   • Home Office 2013 Any incident/pattern of incidents of controlling/coercive.threatening behaviour/violence/abuse between aged 16+ who are/have been intimate partners/family members regardless of gender/sexuality
   • Radical Feminists
     • Mirrlees Black- domestic abuse follows a particular social pattern
       • 1 in 4 women are a victim of domestic abuse (1 in 8 repeated)
       • 1 in 6 men are a victim of domestic abuse
       • 4.3 million women have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16
       • most victims are women (99% by men)
       • 7 million frightening threats
     • Dobash & Dobash
       • Cultural support for the view that men have the "right" to "discipline" their partners
       • Husbands justify it by saying the wife was not performing her domestic duties to his satisfaction
       • Many women are economically dependent on men, therefore are trapped
       • Believe it's inevitable feature of patriarchal society and serves to preserve men's power
   • Yearnshire- on average a woman suffers 35 assults before making a report
   • Materialist Explanation
     • Wilkinson- stress on family caused by social inequality (low income, low chance of maintaining stable relationships