Conjugal Roles and the Domestic Division of Labour
'Conjugal roles' refers to the roles that partners in a couple perform within the home, particularly housework, childcare and paid work.
Method
- Define 'conjugal roles' and Bott's segregated/joint typology as the basic vocabulary for this topic.
- Apply the functionalist/'march of progress' perspective: Young and Willmott's symmetrical family thesis and the factors they gave for increasing symmetry, smaller, privatised, home-centred families, more women in paid work, labour-saving technology.
- Apply the feminist critique with a named study: Ann Oakley's research into housewives, which challenged the idea that roles had become genuinely equal.
- Learn the related criticism, associated with Boulton, that Young and Willmott's measure of 'sharing' undercounted men's low involvement in the emotionally demanding responsibility for childcare, not just physical tasks.
- In an 'explain' question, state the finding and add the study that supports it; in an 'assess'/'discuss' question, set the march of progress evidence against the feminist critique before reaching a conclusion.
- Avoid confusing this topic with money management, a separate system of control over household finances, or with the 'triple shift', paid work, domestic work and emotion work combined, which are tested elsewhere.
Worked example
Using named sociologists, explain the disagreement between the 'march of progress' view and the feminist view of conjugal roles.
- State the march of progress claim: Young and Willmott argued conjugal roles have become more symmetrical over time, with men taking a greater share of housework and childcare as families became smaller and more home-centred.
- Give their supporting reasoning: they linked this to women's increasing participation in paid work and to labour-saving technology reducing the total amount of housework needed.
- State the feminist challenge: Ann Oakley's study of housewives found that men's contribution remained limited and unequal, and that men were more likely to 'help' with enjoyable tasks like playing with children than to share routine housework such as cleaning.
- Add the further feminist point: Oakley and later Boulton argued that Young and Willmott's methods overstated symmetry because they counted any contribution to a task as 'sharing', without measuring how much responsibility each partner actually carried.
- Conclude: the two perspectives disagree because they define and measure 'equal roles' differently, one by whether men do any domestic tasks, the other by whether responsibility is genuinely shared.
Practice questions
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Q1Who distinguished segregated conjugal roles from joint conjugal roles?Show answer
Answer: Elizabeth Bott.
Q2What is a segregated conjugal role relationship?Show answer
Answer: One where partners have separate, clearly divided responsibilities for housework, childcare and leisure, rather than sharing them.
Q3Which sociologists argued conjugal roles have become more symmetrical, and what did they call this trend?Show answer
Answer: Michael Young and Peter Willmott called it the 'symmetrical family'.
Q4Give one reason Young and Willmott gave for the rise of the symmetrical family.Show answer
Answer: For example, more women entering paid work, or families becoming smaller and more home-centred, or labour-saving technology reducing the amount of housework.
Q5Which feminist sociologist criticised the symmetrical family thesis using a study of housewives?Show answer
Answer: Ann Oakley.
Q6What did Oakley find about how men contributed to domestic tasks?Show answer
Answer: Men tended to 'help' with more enjoyable tasks, such as playing with children, rather than sharing routine housework such as cleaning and washing equally.
Q7Give one criticism of Young and Willmott's methods.Show answer
Answer: Critics such as Boulton argue they counted any small contribution as 'sharing' a task, without measuring how much overall responsibility each partner actually held.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Sociology exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two criticisms of the 'symmetrical family' thesis.
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'The domestic division of labour between men and women has become equal.' Discuss this view, using sociological evidence.
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