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 croupe vary from everyone doing the same thing to each psyche having a specialised fiber. The incision of domestic jab 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 labour can to a fault include childc atomic number 18 and emotion work, two things that anteriorly were completely toss off to the wife but now be becoming more as spread between family members.Cultural factors that affect the division of labour atomic number 18 aspects like lagged adaptation. Jonathan Gershuny said wives who are in paid work do less housework ( hands do 27%), but the tasks are nonoperational sex-typed men focus on DIY where as women cook. His explanation was there are gra double departs in values- known as lagged adaptation, and that over time maternal(p) role models will show children that men do hou sework too. divers(prenominal) ethnicities have different family structures- in mevery American families especially, the man is tranquilize the breadwinner and head of the household, while the wife cooks, cleans, and bears and raises children. Conjugal ( matrimonial) roles will vary depending on culture, if the society around a family typically has the man working past spending his leisure time with colleagues, thats how that family will function because they are socialised that demeanor.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 twinge on men to keep things civil in the household. If the wife is unhappy, she can just leave. On the other hand, men and women dont eer have equal pay, which affects the division of labour as a democratic belief in families is that the highest earner should do the least domestic work. sparing factors have had a significant impact on the division of labour, of espouse/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 willing to do domestic work. Rosemary Crompton pointed out that men do more in the home when the womans economical power increases (though the DOL is shut up unequal). However, women only earn of what men earn, so men can neer do quite as much housework based on their wives income. Feminists on the other hand rule that instead of a change in men, all that has altered is that women now bear a dual burden this is the combination of paid work and domestic work. They believe advanced men are benefiting from their wives financial income on top of them doing the housework and expression after the children.Lydia Morris found that even when the male partner is unemployed, the woman free does the domestic work as the male suffers a crisis of masculinity, so they deflect to de connote themselves with housework. Womens working hasnt impacted on the division 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 work where you manage someones emotions (for example an air stewardess). Feminists say women are working, looking after children/domestic labour, and are emotionally supporting the family. denim 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 technical advances have made domestic labour easier, including effective contraception (the pill, introduce and condom) as modern families are often nigglinger than in previous years. Most births are planned, and so the household is well prepared for the peculiar(a) work. In addition, labour saving devices, like the Hoover and dish washer have resulted in men being more likely to serve with housework as its now less time devour and strenuous.Social factors that have influenced the division of labour include the lack of dirt attached to cohabiting couples consequently they feel no pressure to get married. This could mean that gender roles arent as strictly enforced. Another important comity is that in recent years, religion has become a less bighearted aspect of life, a lot of families now wont be religious at all and therefore dont feel the wishing to treat each other a certain way as dictated by religion. Most social interaction of the stream day can be traced back to religious codes of conduct, its achievable 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 rol es help to organise the family. One functionalist, Talcott Parsons 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 communicatory role (looking after the children, and catering for the emotional needs of the family). A touristed 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. inch of Progress sociologists (like Elizabeth Bott, Young and Willmott) argue the family is becoming more symmetrical with sum conjugal roles. These joint roles have become typical of working line 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 seek found that men only have to do a small fraction of the domestic work for t he household to qualify as symmetrical. This shows that although the UK advertises itself as a modern society, sexist views of the past are a rat occurrence 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- commit AO2 phrases to show evaluation, and cite evidence to support perspectives. It is written in UK English. Apologies for any spelling errors and incorrect Sociologist names.)