Functionalist perspective on Domestic Division of Labour

• Parsons says there is two biological roles that women and men fulfil in the family
• Parsons says the two roles are;

  • Expressive
  • Instrumental
• The expressive role is the mothers role as the care-giver
• The instrumental role is the fathers role that is the bread winner
• Young and Willmott criticise Parsons as men are doing more domestic work and women are doing more paid employment
• Bott says families choose between 2 conjugal role relationships
• The two Conjugal Role Relationships are;

  • Segregated Relationship role
  • Joint Conjugal role
• The Segregated Relationship roles mean that the men and women have distinct separate tasks and interests
• The Joint Conjugal role means that the couple carry out many tasks together with a slight task differentiation and separation of interests
• Young and Willmott carried research over London Couples
• Young and Willmott say there is an emergence of a symmetrical family
• The symmetrical family means men do house work as well, women are in paid employment as well and they share leisure time
• The change towards a symmetrical family can be due to a range of reasons such as;

  • Change in women's positions
  • New Technology to do housework
  • Geographical mobility
  • Higher standards of living