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Unlock This CoursePeter Willmott and Michael Young were influential British sociologists who conducted groundbreaking research on how family structures changed throughout the 20th century. Their studies, conducted primarily in East London between the 1950s and 1970s, tracked how industrialisation and social change transformed traditional family relationships.
Key Definitions:
Peter Willmott (1923-2000) and Michael Young (1915-2002) were British sociologists who worked together at the Institute of Community Studies. They conducted several influential studies on family life in East London, particularly in Bethnal Green and the new suburban estates. Their research methods included interviews, observations and surveys with hundreds of families.
Their major works include:
- Family and Kinship in East London (1957)
- Family and Class in a London Suburb (1960)
- The Symmetrical Family (1973)
These studies documented the changing nature of family relationships in response to post-war social changes.
Willmott and Young identified four distinct stages in the evolution of family structures from pre-industrial Britain to the 1970s. Each stage represents a response to changing economic and social conditions.
Before the Industrial Revolution, families typically worked together as economic units, often in farming or cottage industries.
Extended family networks living and working together or nearby
Family-based production with all members contributing to survival
Clear division but both genders contributed to economic production
The Industrial Revolution dramatically changed family life as work moved from home to factories and mines.
Families began to split as men moved to find work
Men worked in factories while women often maintained home-based work
Increasingly separated with men as breadwinners and women as homemakers
This stage represents the classic "traditional" family that many associate with the early to mid-20th century.
- Clear separation of male and female roles
- Men as breadwinners, women as homemakers
- Nuclear family structure becoming dominant
- Extended family connections maintained but less central
- Privatised nuclear family focused on home and consumption
In their 1957 study of Bethnal Green, Willmott and Young found that while nuclear families were becoming the norm, extended family ties (particularly mother-daughter relationships) remained strong. Women maintained close relationships with their mothers, who often lived nearby and provided practical support.
In their study of Bethnal Green in East London (1957), Willmott and Young documented the importance of extended family networks, particularly between mothers and daughters. They found that despite the move toward nuclear families, three-quarters of married couples had at least one set of parents living nearby. Mothers and daughters typically saw each other several times a week, with mothers providing childcare and practical support. This showed that while family structures were changing, kinship networks remained important in working-class communities.
The final stage in Willmott and Young's model represents the emergence of more equal partnerships between husbands and wives.
- More equal sharing of household tasks
- Joint decision-making between spouses
- Focus on the nuclear family unit
- Declining importance of extended family
- Increased focus on home-centred leisure
- Rise of companionate marriage based on emotional satisfaction
In "The Symmetrical Family" (1973), Willmott and Young studied families in Woodford, Essex and found that husbands were increasingly helping with housework and childcare. They noted the rise of "home-centredness" with families spending leisure time together rather than in gender-segregated activities. They argued this represented a more democratic family form.
Willmott and Young identified several key social changes that contributed to the development of more symmetrical family relationships:
- Rising living standards
- Increased female employment
- Shorter working hours for men
- Growth of consumer society
- Move to suburban housing
- Greater geographical mobility
- Distance from extended family
- Better housing conditions
- Smaller family size
- Changing attitudes to gender roles
- Rise of companionate marriage
- Increased focus on children
While groundbreaking, their research has faced several important criticisms:
- Their sample sizes were relatively small and geographically limited
- They relied heavily on interviews, which may reflect what people say rather than what they actually do
- Their definition of "symmetry" was based on men "helping" with housework rather than equal sharing
- They focused primarily on white working-class and middle-class families
- Ann Oakley argued they exaggerated the extent of equality in households
- Her research showed women still did 75% of housework even when employed
- They overlooked the "dual burden" faced by working women
- They didn't adequately address power imbalances within families
Feminist sociologist Ann Oakley directly challenged Willmott and Young's findings in her 1974 study "The Sociology of Housework." She interviewed 40 housewives and found that even in families that appeared "symmetrical," women were still responsible for the majority of household tasks. Men's contribution was often limited to specific tasks (like washing up) and was seen as "helping" rather than sharing responsibility. Oakley argued that Willmott and Young had overstated the degree of equality in modern families and had failed to recognise the continued exploitation of women's domestic labour.
Despite being conducted decades ago, Willmott and Young's research continues to provide valuable insights into family change:
Their work helps us understand the historical development of modern family forms and how economic and social changes shape family relationships. The trend toward nuclear, home-centred families they identified has continued in many ways, though with greater diversity of family forms than they anticipated.
Their concept of the symmetrical family remains useful for examining gender roles in modern families. While true symmetry remains elusive, their work provides a framework for understanding how families adapt to changing economic circumstances, such as the increase in dual-earner households and remote working.
Willmott and Young's research provides a valuable historical perspective on family change in Britain. Their identification of the trend toward more symmetrical family relationships captured an important shift in family life, even if their optimism about gender equality was somewhat premature. Their work reminds us that families are not static institutions but constantly evolve in response to wider social and economic changes.
Their research continues to be significant in sociology because it: