Sociological Studies

• What does Parsons (Functionalist) say about conjugal roles

  .Husband has Instrumental role =breadwinner roles,being objective and career oriented

  .Wife has Expressive roles=providing warmth,security and emotional support to family

  .Biological difference that causes male and female to be suited for different roles
• Evaluate Parsons view on conjugal roles

  .no scientifical evidence to prove that women are not biologically fit for their roles

  .Gender is a social construct and therfore so are gender roles such as those in the family

  .roles may seem natural but are made by society and learnt through processes of socialistion
• What did Ramos say about conjugal roles

  .women+men who both worked full time jobs tended to do about the same amount of housework
• Summarise the study from British Social Attitudes survey on domestic division of labour

  .used a nationally representative sample to look at trends in domestic division of labour

  .gradual move towards men doing more housework,still equalities tho

  .attitudes increasing support sharing of household chores,women continue to do more domestic work than men
• Summarise the study of OnePoll (Oxfam) on domestic division of labour

  .women in partnership spent 31% more time caring for children and 28% more tome doing housework than men.Women did more work than men other than DIY or taking out the bins

  .women had less time to do other things

  .women spent the average of 2 working days more than men on housework,leaving less time to personal leisure,and on careers
• Summarise the study of Office for National Statistics (2016) for domestic division of labour

  .in 2015 men did average of 16 hours per week of unpaid work ,women did an average of 26 hours

  .men spent more times giving lifts than women
• What is the cultural or ideological explanation for inequality

  The general divide of labour is not rational but shaped by the dominant patriarchal ideas about gender roles,women do more domestic labour regardless of how much they contribute to household finances/how much they get paid
• What is the material or economical explanation for inequality

  If men earn more and therefore contribute more to the household income,it is rational for the man to dedicate more time to paid employment than women (less time for household tasks compared for women)
• What is the evidence for the explanation for material and economic explanations for equality

  .women (38%)are more likely to work part time than men (13%)

  .Gender pay gap-average difference in hourly earnings between men +women

  .Kan and Laurie-women with higher wages and better qualifications tend to experience more equality in the home
• Summarise Mary Boltons study on childcare and taking responsibility for children

  .argues that the studies that focus on the allocation tasks in the home exaggerate the extent of involvement of men in childcare and she denies that questions about who does what give a true picture of conjugal roles.
• Summarise The Millennium Cohort Study of childcare and taking responsibility for children

  .Longitudinal study,quantitative,sample of babies born in 2000-2001

  .23000 parents questioned when child was 3 who cared for child when they were was ill,69.9% of mothers took full responsibility,1.1% partner took full responsibility, 28.6% shared responsibility
• Summarise Braun,Vincents and Balls study of childcare and taking responsibility for children

  .suggest men should be more involved in childcare

  .quantitative research shows fathers are doing more than in previous years-yet still limited

  .some fathers still looked to mothers for instructions and reassurance
• What did Hochschild say about emotion work

  .it was work done by women like taking care of the emotional needs within the family

  .compared to female cabin crew keeping passengers satisfied
• What are the 3 elements of the triple shift

  1.Paid Employment

  2.Domestic Work

  3.Emotion Work
• What did Southerton say about quality time

  .another responsibility that fell to women

  .time spent giving full attention to someone or thing without having to deal with other things at the same time

  .time spent with family

  .it is difficult now due to flexible working patterns and people became more fragmented
• What may influence a womans choice about work and children

  .contraception reception

  .the equal opportunity revolution

  .expansion of white-collar occupations

  .creation of jobs for secondary earners (part-time)

  .changing values,attitudes and personal preferences
• What did Green at el say about decision making

  .there was a small move towards equality in decision making but mens careers are still more likely to determine where a couple lived