Exploring Power and Control in the Family

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Exploring Power and Control in the Family

1. The phrase "unequal division of labour" refers to when household

tasks including childcare are not shared equally between husband and

wife.

2. Item A confirms that a traditional sexual division of labour still

exists in the modern family firstly by stating that women tend to do

the majority of housework in the family and secondly by saying that

men are shown to do more physical work such as gardening than women.

3. The sexual division of labour still exists because women are

continuing to view housework and childcare as essential to being a

"good housewife and mother". As men have less flexible work schedules

which may be more demanding women are relied on to do the majority of

the housework. Item C also suggests that the sexual division of labour

still exists due to the fact that women may deal with situations over

which they have little control by defining them as satisfactory.

4. The mother-housewife role may limit women's employment

opportunities by the responsibility of the "school run". If the women

has to drop of her child(ren) at school in the morning and collect

them at the end of the school day she may not be employed as she may

be needed to work a full day eg. From 9am-5pm.

5.

Young and Willmott claim that the roles in the family between the

husband and wife are shared. They state that the domestic labour is

shared, as is the leisure activity. They call these families joint

conjugal rolled families.

It has been found that the majority of the housework and childcare in

the home is completed by the female/wife/mother. This even appears to

be the case when the man of the household is unemployed, leaving him

with no job to prevent him doing housework.

Oakley argues that Young and Willmott's claim of increasing symmetry

amongst the family is based on inadequate methodology. (S)he says that

this is because Young and Willmott's conclusions were based on only

one interview question, which was worded in such a way, that it could

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