This document includes all the key information for AQA sociology exam, summarising Family and Households and education topics 1,2,5. This includes sociologists which are needed for evidence in your exams and notes all the topics within family and households.
Household – person living alone or a group of people living together
Family – in 19th century was very patriarchal
Women themselves were considered property
Upon marrying a woman’s property became her husbands
Access to divorce was also unequal
Domestic division of labor refers to the roles that men and women play in relation to housework,
childcare and paid work
Sociologists interested in whether men and women share domestic tasks equally
Instrumental role (men have undertaken) = breadwinner
Expressive role = housewives i.e rearing children, doing housework
PARSONS – division of labour between spouses in rooted in biology : men being more physically fit
may engage in manual tasks whereas wives are suited to having children and therefore have some
sort of maternal instinct
Women must look after stressed husband after work / caring nurturing aspect to provide a
stable environment to bring up children
This is a traditional conservative view e.g the neo liberal or new right , they believe it is
traditional from the past and should be like this
Parsons ideas have been criticized as arguably the system benefits men more than women
– women now increasingly work as men come home to come home with no stress of kids
awake, housework is all done
Repetitive for women , lack in leisure, boring, unpaid
However women’s are economically dependent on their husbands
Bott > two type of conjugal roles
(segregated conjugal roles) = traditional nuclear family
Joint conjugal roles = couples are sharing tasks such as housework and childcare, whilst also
spending leisure time together
Otherwise women’s leisure time typically spent with female kin whereas men may spend their
time in the pub after work with friends
Young and Wilmott
Take a march of progress view of history and the family’s place within it
Women were working more, men were doing more around the house, couples had
become more privatized
This was a result of women’s changing position, geographical mobility (movement away
from extended family to seek employment), new technology (made men less reluctant to
participating in housework) and higher standards of living (post war onwards, SOL rising as
economy’s did better and people had disposable income to e.g. go on holiday)
Women gain more rights e.g. contraceptive pill, legislation to vote, less discrimination in
the workplace
, Feminist view of housework:
Ann Oakley:
- Criticized march of progress view
- Argues husbands interviewed which found they help once a week which is hardly
symmetrical
- Some evidence of increase involvement of husbands in housework
- Many interviewed felt they were good fathers as they played with children in evenings
BUT this tends to free up time for wives to do more housework
- Husbands felt they were more involved
- Argued domestic labor is heavily sex typed: men tend to do DIY and gardening ,whilst
women tend to do cooking and cleaning – more laborious tasks
- Women continue to do more housework – men involve in the more rewarding aspect of
childcare rather than e.g. putting children to sleep
- Men tend to get half an hour more free time than women
The impact of paid work:
Since Ann Oakley’s study in the 1970s
Now become a norm for women (married or cohabiting) to work and bring in second
income
Gershuny
Women in full time jobs did less housework > more work they did , more domestic labor
husbands did
Couples who’s parents had a more equal relationship were more likely to have an equal
relationship themselves > replicating their parents
A change in society’s values as we now believe women’s position should be one of
equality
Change in parental models : society used to be more patriarchal , children weren’t seen
and heard
Crompton
As women earn more, men do more work at home
Changes in DDOL were connected to economic factors
As long as there is unequal pay, there will be unequal division
British social attitudes survey:
Fall in number of people who think it’s a mans job to be a breadwinner and women’s to be
a homemaker
Dual burden:
Domestic task and paid – FERRI AND SMITH
Little evidence for new man who gets actively involved in childcare or shares earning
Morris: unemployed men avoid housework – rejected doing it as it may undermine their
masculinity – RAMOS refuted this and found total equality
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller tanyapinhas. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £15.99. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
