Families & The Economy

• FAM


  Sociological explanation of family structure and social change, with particular reference to the economy and to state policies
• Outline, explain, analyse and evaluate Parsons' view of the impact of industrialisation on the family, Wilmott and Young's "march of progress" theory, and the impact of globalisation on family structure and role
• Industrialisation and the family

  1. Industrialisation led to the development of the nuclear family

  2. Industrialisation led to separation of work and home

  3. Industrialisation led to gender division of labour

  4. Industrialisation led to state taking over many family functions
• Parsons' view


  Industrialisation led to the development of the nuclear family
• Parsons


  • Functionalist who believes institutions work together like organs in the human body
  • Argues pre-industrial extended families had functional fit with rural economy
  • Argues nuclear families have functional fit with industrial society
• Nuclear families


  • Allow for geographical mobility
  • Allow for social mobility and meritocracy
  • Facilitate specialised gender roles
• Historians disagree that the changes in the family described by Parsons actually happened
• Research found pre-industrial families were often nuclear, not extended
• Research found increase in extended families during industrialisation as people moved to cities
• Parsons criticised for being an "armchair theorist" without empirical research
• There has always been more family and household diversity than Parsons' theory suggests
• The "March of Progress"

  1. Stage 1: Pre-industrial family as unit of economic production

  2. Stage 2: Early industrial family with gender segregation

  3. Stage 3: Symmetrical modern nuclear family

  4. Stage 4: Asymmetrical family with men spending more time outside home
• Stratified diffusion


  Cultural changes in family life began among higher social status and diffused down
• Little evidence that stratified diffusion occurred in this case
• Some dislike the "march of progress" idea as implying the family has got better over time
• Feminist research suggests the "symmetrical family" is a myth
• The modern nuclear family is presented in an idealistic way, contrary to many people's experiences
• Contemporary economic change and families

  1. Greater use of technology

  2. Entrance of women into the workplace

  3. Greater equality of opportunity

  4. Families more geographically mobile but maintain long-distance bonds

  5. Families have greater disposable income and wider array of products for children
• Globalisation


  • Interconnectedness of the world
  • Caused economic change impacting gender roles
  • Led to more multicultural societies and family diversity
  • Impacted childhood through media access to global culture
• Despite social changes, changes to the family have been quite minor since the 1960s
• Links to core themes: socialisation, stratification