The Domestic Labour Debate

Since the 1970's the debate about just who is doing what in the household has been gathering momentum

Willmott and Young 1975

The Symmetrical family has become commonMove from segregated (separate) conjugal roles to joint conjugal rolesi.e. greater sharing of household tasks by husbands and wivesGrowth of the privatised familyMore women are working

Oakley 1975 Interviewed 40 housewives in London(criticism – very small sample)Many married women expressed the desire for their men to be ‘men’Women carried out the majority of household tasks

Gershuny 1992 Looked at Canada & EuropeMen are doing more domestic tasks- particularly where partners workBut – women still do moreIn recent research published in 2005, Gershuny says that men are doing twice as much as they did in 1961 but women still do twice as much as men on average

Edgell 1980 Looked at decision making between spousesWomen made more decisions in areas of domestic spending and children’s clothesMen made the more ‘important’ decisions of moving house etcMale careers were seen as more important as they were the main breadwinners

Gillian Leighton 1992

Found that when men became unemployed this power balance shifted with wives taking over the main money decisions

Pahl 1993 & Vogler 1994

In separate studies both found that in the area of financial matters there was more equality

Morris 1990

Lydia Morris found that even in families where the husband was unemployed – he did little or no more housework than when he was fully employed. This she concluded, was because they felt emasculated as a result of their job losses and household chores further exasperated this.

 Dunscombe & Marsden (1995)

Identified ‘emotional work’ as an important part of the woman’s roleAdded to the dual burden mentioned above this makes a ‘triple burden’i.e. Women are involved in paid employment, do most of the domestic activities and take on the emotional support role.

 In the early 1990’s many sociologists detected a change in the role of fathers. Many more men were attending the births of their children and playing a greater role in childcare.

Fatherhood

 Dennis And Erdos 1992Arguing from a new left perspective, Dennis and Erdos suggest that the absence of an authority figure is a major factor in youths turning to deviance and crime.

This has echoes of functionalism and new right philosophies but is backed by recent government moves on making parents directly responsible for bad behaviour of young people, e.g. fines for parents of persistent truants

Fatherhood

 Burghess 1997

Found fathers taking a more central role in the emotional development of their children

Fatherhood

 Beck 1992

In a post- modern world men can no longer rely on careers to give identity and fulfilment. Being a ‘dad’ gives a sense of purpose

Fatherhood

 Dermot et al 2006

Research at The University of Bristol led by Esther Dermott found that many modern men still work long hours after becoming fathers and have little desire to spend more time at home. After an initial surge of interest after the birth they soon settle back into their old working routine.

As Dermott points out '.....If by new fathers we mean: is more emotional, turns up at sports day, wants to build a relationship with the child, then yes (we have them). If we mean: rearranges his employment in order to prioritise child care then we don't have that‘

However, most men stated that fatherhood had been a life changing experience and that their social life and personal relationships had changed. Men didn't want to work less hours but they wanted more flexibility to be able to take an afternoon off to watch the Christmas play etc.

Fatherhood

However it is important not to over emphasise the role of men in this area. Most children are looked after by females in the main. Men are doing more but women still do most!

Fatherhood

Childhood is a social construction. It is created by society rather than simply a biological stage. Different societies and different historical periods have different ideas about what is a child and what is expected of a child

Childhood

 Pre Industrial Society Aries 1962‘Childhood’ is a recent inventionIn pre industrial society children were little adultsThey were an economic asset – they were expected to help the family unit of production

Childhood

Childhood & IndustrialisationWC attitudes stayed the same but MC attitudes started to change in the mid 19th centuryCampaigners fought against children working in mines and factoriesSchooling became important for the MC

Childhood

Childhood In 20th Century The 20th century became ‘child centred’Health and diet improved and the infant mortality rate declined.

Childhood

The 20th century saw the increasing need to protect children via a number of pieces of legislation.  1945 Butler Education Act – schooling for all 5-15(Raised to 16 in 1972)The Children Act 1989 – giving more rights to children

Childhood & The State

1990 Child Care Act1991 Child Support ActThese deal with the care, upbringing and protection of childrenSocial Services and Social Workers have powers to take children away from dangerous home situations

Childhood & The State

 Postman 1984 and 1994Neil Postman "The Disappearance of Childhood" 1982 believes that childhood is fast disappearing. Children grow up very quickly and experience things only open to adults in the past.

Our definitions of 'childhood' and 'adulthood' will need changing in the not too distant future. Postman argues that childhood is dying because we are moving away from a print culture to a visual culture. Reading is in decline as a result as are the important skills of persistence and delayed gratification.

Visual culture opens children to often dubious representations of sex and violence through TV, film and video. They are also exposed to advertising focussed specifically on the youth market. Whereas in the 19th century the child in their teenage years was a wage earner, the child of the 20th century has become an "egocentric consumer"

Childhood

 Cunningham 1995

argues that modern society has seen a collapse in adult authority as parents became more inclined to give into their children's demands.

the shift in power away from parents to children is therefore not just economic - it is emotional as well

Parents increasingly look for emotional gratification from their children resulting in a reluctance to discipline them effectively and a tendency to "give in" to their demands.

adolescence or "youth" as a period of stress between parents

Childhood

 Bocock 1993

Childhood

Richard Bocock suggests that the rise of the child as consumer over the latter parts of the 20th century is a further prop to the capitalist system. Children and youths are an important market and are easily persuaded to part with their money via very focused advertising.

Richard Bocock suggests that the rise of the child as consumer over the latter parts of the 20th century is a further prop to the capitalist system. Children and youths are an important market and are easily persuaded to part with their money via very focused advertising.

Lee 2001Nick Lee disagrees with Postman and says that childhood is not disappearing. He agrees that it has become a complex and ambiguous area and that children are targeted as a market by producers and advertisers. However, the parents control the purse strings and children can only spend as much as their parents allow. The paradox of childhood is one of dependence and independence at the same time.

Childhood

Recent changes have undermined the distinctiveness of childhood, according to some sociologists. TV and other media have penetrated our homes and teat children as fully fledged consumers of products.On the other hand the need to protect children against the ‘evils’ of the adult world are reflected in the policies shown above.Hence the messages have become confusing and the debate about the status of children in contemporary society has developed into a source of tension

Childhood & The State

Squeezed in between childhood and adulthood is the unclear term ‘youth’

Youth

Pilcher 1995Says it is best treated as•a transition between child and adult.•From compulsory education to employment•From family of origin to family of destination (orientation to procreation)

Youth

Childhood & Other Cultures

As stated above childhood is a social construction and varies across time and space. Children in many developing countries are experiencing the type of childhood many in this country experienced in the early industrial period.

As stated above childhood is a social construction and varies across time and space. Children in many developing countries are experiencing the type of childhood many in this country experienced in the early industrial period.

Townsend et alUsing data from 43 developing countries they found:

1/3 of children in the world suffer from absolute poverty (i.e. below the minimum food, shelter and clothing level)134m children have never been to schoolNearly 400 million children have a 15 minute walk to get water or are drinking unsafe waterCivil wars in many areas have made difficult lives even worse.

Childhood & Other Cultures

UK PopulationThe population of the UK has grown throughout the century but at a declining rate. 1996 based projections suggest that the population in the UK will continue to grow into the next century; by 2021 it is projected to rise to just over 62m

Demographic Changes 1900 - present

Demographic Changes 1900 - presentSome Trends

•In 1900 women had an average of 3.5 children, today it is 1.7.In 1900 63% of people died before 60yrs, today only 12% do.Between 1901 and 1905 the general fertility rate in the UK was about 110 live births per 1000 women aged 15-44. By 1971 this had fallen to 91 and in 1997 to 59The number of births in the UK has declined throughout the century, interrupted only by the two post-war ‘baby booms’ and a secondary peak in the 1960s.Women now have children much later in life.Boys are expected to live to 75 on average, girls 80 – in 1900 it was 45 and 49 respectivelyInfant mortality rates have fallen over the century from 140/1000 to 5/1000

Source: House Of Commons RESEARCH PAPER 99/111http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp99/rp99-111.pdf

Why are women having fewer children?

More children survive now than in the pastReliable contraception – especially the pill since the 1960’sChildren are expensiveWomen have children later in lifeCareers for women have become more important

Demographic Changes 1900 - present

Why are people living longer?

Health and sanitation have improvedThe welfare state gives help to the elderly – pensions, medical care etcImproved diets and exerciseLess likely to die in a war nowJobs are less physical and are safer

Demographic Changes 1900 - present

Migration

The census of 2001 shows the following ethnic mix in the UK

Ethnic Origin % of PopulationWhite 92Indian 1.8Pakistani 1.3Mixed 1.2Black Caribbean 1.0Black African 0.8Bangladeshi 0.5Chinese 0.4

Ethnic minorities are not evenly distributed across the UK with the highest % in London and other significant numbers in Birmingham and Bradford/Leeds

Immigration Since 1900

By the beginning of the 20th century there had been many migrants from Ireland due to poverty and starvation.

After WW II many migrants came from Europe especially Poland.Between 1950’s and 1960’s there was a big wave of economic migration from Asia and the Caribbean.In the recent years the changes in the EEc have led to many migrants fro eastern Europe, particularly Poland.

Emigration Since 1900

At the beginning of the century the UK was a net exporter of population, mostly young men, to other countries especially North America, the antipodes and other colonies.

The UK again became a net exporter of population in the 1970s and 1980s as families migrated under arranged passages to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.Since 2000 1.1 British citizens have moved abroad (most popular countries being France and Spain) and just over ½ a million have returned from abroad. Most go to experience a better standard of life –both financially and weather wise!

1. Family Diversity

Although we need to avoid stereotyping Asian goups do have more extended families than other ethnic groupsAfro- Caribbean groups have the highest percentage of single parent families of all ethnic groups

Effects Of Migration

2. Integration Issues

This looks at how ethnic groups have ‘fitted in’Some argue that multicultural policies have helped other cultures ‘fit in’ to British culture.Opponents argue that too much emphasis has been placed on ‘multicultaralism’ at the expense of ‘Britishness’

Effects Of Migration

3. Political Issues

This is a n area of hot debateFar right parties like the BNP have made it a central issueOthers have worried in the past about the effects of migrant workers to Britain both economically and socially.Recent fears about the ‘invasion’ from Eastern Europe have fuelled this debate again.

Effects Of Migration