Family : Research Studies - Young and Willmott

• Research Studies

  Young and Wilmott disagree with gender inequality in the family. They studied families in Bethnal Green in London in 1957 and found that the men worked on the docks and socialised with mates (men) whereas the women took the role of the housewife and mother, helped by female relatives and they socialised with female kin. This agrees with Murdock and Parsons' views of the nuclear family and the instrumental and expressive roles.
• Research Studies

  Young and Wilmott

  They then revisited the area in 1973 and suggested 'The March of Progress' view of the family where a new man was arising, and the family is becoming more symmetrical. A new family type was emerging: the privatised nuclear family. The published paper The Symmetrical Family detects a shift in conjugal roles which they see as reflecting a new type of relationship between husband and wife. They detect a movement away from traditional segregated roles towards more joint forms of relationship.