Examine the extent to which husbands and wives now have a relationship based on equality

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Examine the extent to which ‘husbands and wives now have a relationship based on equality’ (24)

When looking at equality within relationships there are four main areas to observe;

  • Domestic division of labour
  • Decision making
  • Emotional/Invisible work
  • Division of power/Domestic violence

A study done by Young and Willmott greatly supports the idea that husbands and wives now have a relationship based on equality. They suggest changes in the way the family operate have made roles more similar. These changes include; the absence of help and support from relatives that existed in the past, leisure activities such as going to the pub or meeting with other friends have become less common and have been replaced by playing with the kids or watching TV, which are centred around the home. They go on to describe the typical nuclear family as a ‘symmetrical family’ which refers to an arrangement where the workings and conjugal roles of the family are similar. Young and Willmott then give several reasons for the development of the symmetrical family;

  • Living standards have improved and possibly less housework is needed to be done in keeping the house a healthy environment.
  • Value of wages have risen and more wives are working in paid employment, therefore are possibly seen as on the same level as the husband.
  • Family allowances and sickness and unemployment benefits have reduced the extent of poverty which may lift the burden and create less stress.
  • Reduction in family size from 5-6 children to under two, which creates less work for parents in looking after the children.
  • People are becoming more geographically mobile, moving to new locations when changing jobs which may open up different opportunities to manage the family.
  • The home has become more attractive, less crowded, improved plumbing and heating facilities, better home entertainment, fitted carpets and three-piece suites and improved household technology have helped promote family life and make it easier to live as a unit

However this study has been largely criticised, mainly because the results are based on one question; ‘Do you/does your husband help out at least once a week with any household jobs like washing up, helping with childcare etc’. This question shows that it was not surprising to get the result that 85% of men help around the home due to how vague the question is.

A study majorly criticising Young and Willmott is Stephen Edgell, who found no evidence to support their view that the symmetrical family was typical of the middle class. He sampled 38 middle class couples and examined the conjugal roles in each, finding that none of the couples had joint conjugal roles in relation to housework, yet 44.6% of them did have joint roles in relation to childcare, even though women spent more time on them.

Another study on conjugal roles is that of Ann Oakley, who collected information on 40 married women who had 1 child or more under the age of 5 and who themselves were aged between 20-30. Half of her sample was working class and half were middle class and all lived in the London area. She found that domestic tasks were shared more equally within couples in the middles classes than the working classes however in both there were few men who had a high level of participation in housework and childcare with only 15% in housework and 25% in childcare.

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She also goes on to claim that the reason men participate in more childcare than housework is because they usually play with the children rather than change their nappies or bathe them. She found that none of the women questioned their primary duty of looking after the home and they all saw men doing household tasks as ‘helping them’.

Other studies that looked at the division of labour are the following;

  • Dryden (1999) who studied 17 married couples and found that women still had the major responsibility for housework and childcare.
  • A survey carried out for the insurance ...

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