Examine the factors affecting the domestic division of labour among couples Essay

The Division of Labour refers to the range of tasks within a social system. This evoke vary from everyone doing the same thing to each person having a specialised role. The division of domestic dig out is the tasks given to each person in a house unit. For example the wife may do the housework, whilst the husband goes out to work. The division of domestic hollow can also include childcare and feeling work, two things that previously were completely down to the wife precisely now are becoming to a greater extent steadyly spread between family members.Cultural factors that tint the division of labour are aspects like lagged adaptation. Jonathan Gershuny said wives who are in paid work do less housework (men do 27%), but the tasks are salvage sex-typed men focus on DIY where as women cook. His explanation was there are gradual changes in values- known as lagged adaptation, and that over cartridge clip parental role models will show children that men do housework too.Different e thnicities have different family structures- in many American families especially, the man is stock-still the breadwinner and fling of the household, while the wife cooks, cleans, and bears and raises children. Conjugal (marital) roles will vary depending on culture, if the society around a family truely has the man working then disbursement his leisure time with colleagues, thats how that family will function because they are socialised that way.Some legal factors influence the division of labour, for instance its now easier and more socially acceptable for couples to get a divorce, so in a way theres more pressure on men to go forward things civil in the household. If the wife is unhappy, she can just leave. On the other hand, men and women dont always have equal pay, which affects the division of labour as a popular belief in families is that the highest earner should do the least domestic work.Economic factors have had a significant impact on the division of labour, of mar ried/cohabiting women in the UK make money, which has resulted in TheNew Man. This is the idea that since women are bringing in an income, men are more will to do domestic work. Rosemary Crompton pointed out that men do more in the home when the womans frugalal power increases (though the DOL is still unequal). However, women only earn of what men earn, so men can never do quite as much housework based on their wives income. Feminists on the other hand feel that instead of a change in men, all that has altered is that women now bear a dual burden this is the confederacy of paid work and domestic work. They believe modern men are gain grounding from their wives financial income on top of them doing the housework and looking after the children.Lydia Morris found that even when the male partner is unemployed, the woman still does the domestic work as the male suffers a crisis of masculinity, so they refuse to demean themselves with housework. Womens working hasnt impacted on the di vision of childcare either fewer than 4% of men were deemed the main child-carer in 1996. Additionally, Hochschild defined the concept of emotion work as a job where you manage someones emotions (for example an air stewardess). Feminists say women are working, looking after children/domestic labour, and are emotionally load-bearing(a) the family. Jean Dunscombe and Dennis Marsden call this a triple shift (emotion work + domestic labour + paid work). So, in reality, the division of labour hasnt changed through economic factors as much as perhaps it should have done.Many technological advances have made domestic labour easier, including effective contraception (the pill, implant and condom) as modern families are often petiteer than in previous years. Most births are planned, and so the household is well prepared for the extra work. In addition, labour saving devices, like the Hoover and dish washer have resulted in men being more likely to help with housework as its now less time c onsuming and strenuous.Social factors that have influenced the division of labour include the lack of stigma attached to cohabiting couples consequently they feel no pressure to get married. This could mean that gender roles arent as strictly enforced. Another important consideration is that in recent years, religion has become a less prominent aspect of life, a lot of families now wont be religious at all and therefore dont feel the need to treat each other a certain way as dictated by religion. Most social interaction of the flow rate day can be traced back to religious codes of conduct, its possible than non-Christian societies expect wives to be treated differently to Christian ones.Theoretical perspectives such as functionalism and the new right support the division of labour. They state that families need segregated conjugal roles because its biological instinct and that it benefits everyone, they feel these marital roles help to mold the family. One functionalist, Talcott P arsons believed that males should take on an instrumental role they should work and will be the ones to achieve success, while females should assume the expressive role (looking after the children, and cater for the emotional needs of the family). A popular view in right-wing politics, functionalism and the new right is that couples shouldnt be equal, as the male should be the head of the family, while retaining the role of breadwinner.March of Progress sociologists (like Elizabeth Bott, Young and Willmott) argue the family is becoming more symmetrical with joint conjugal roles. These joint roles have become typical of working class life, in Young and Willmotts opinions. Feminists like Ann Oakley disagree and say that segregated conjugal roles are socially constructed by men to benefit men as we still live in a patriarchal society. Her research found that men only have to do a small fraction of the domestic work for the household to qualify as symmetrical. This shows that although the UK advertises itself as a modern society, sexist views of the past are a frequent fact in our families.(A.N This was marked by my AS-level Sociology teacher and was given 18/24 marks, making it a Grade C essay. Some tips she gave- Use AO2 phrases to show evaluation, and put forward evidence to support perspectives. It is written in UK English. Apologies for any spelling errors and incorrect Sociologist names.)