Outline and explain how the roles of women in the families may have altered since 1945. [15]

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Homework for the 4th November 2011

January 2009-

(A)- Outline and explain how the roles of women in the families may have altered since 1945. [15]

In 1945, there was a clear division in labour as it was found that families had segregated conjugal roles. Segregated conjugal roles were found in the traditional nuclear family where the husband was the 'Breadwinner', and the wife stayed at home as a housewife and took care of the kids. Parsons (1955) believed that the husband had an instrumented role of providing for his family functionally as the 'Breadwinner' and that the wives had expressive roles geared towards primary socialization of children and roles geared towards meeting the families emotional needs. The wife was known as 'The homemaker'. Parsons believed that the division of labour was based on biological differences as he believed that women were more naturally suited to the nurturing role. He claimed that this division of labour was beneficial for both men and women, children and society.

However, Michael Young and Peter Willmott (1962) argued that men were now taking a greater share in domestic tasks around the house and with the children and that more wives