👨 Fewer fixed scripts
In a traditional nuclear family the roles were often fixed by gender. In many other family types there is no obvious script, so partners have to work out who does what.
Changing Family Life » Changing Conjugal Roles
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Cambridge spec: 4.3.5
- How more diverse family types have changed who does what at home
- The move from segregated to joint conjugal roles, including the symmetrical family and the dual worker family
- What the pivot or sandwich generation is
- The evidence for and against real change in conjugal roles
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Unlock This CourseWho does what at home is changing
In an earlier lesson you met conjugal roles, the roles of partners in a couple. You also met segregated roles, where partners do different jobs, and joint roles, where partners share them. This lesson looks at how those roles have changed in many societies, and asks how far the change is real.
Key terms:
- Symmetrical family: a family in which both partners do paid work and share housework and childcare. Their roles may not be identical, but they are similar in importance. The term comes from Willmott and Young.
- Dual worker family: a family in which both partners are in paid work.
- Pivot generation (sandwich generation): adults in the middle generation who care for their own children and for their ageing parents at the same time.
More diverse family types
Families are now more varied than they once were: lone-parent, reconstituted, cohabiting and same-sex couple families, as well as nuclear and extended ones. Diversity matters for roles.
👪 One adult, many jobs
A lone parent has to do both the earning and the caring. Roles that used to be split between two people are combined in one.
So diversity weakens the idea that a man must be the breadwinner and a woman the homemaker.
From segregated to joint roles
Sharing the cooking: the symmetrical family has partners whose roles are similar, with both working and both helping at home
Many sociologists argue that, in many societies, couples have moved from segregated roles towards joint roles. Willmott and Young described the symmetrical family in their research on family life in and around London. They saw couples becoming more home-centred, with both partners working and sharing household jobs.
They suggested several reasons:
💼 Women's paid work
More women go out to work, so they are less likely to accept doing all the housework.
💡 New technology
Washing machines and other labour-saving devices cut the time housework takes, so it is easier to share.
🏡 Moving away
Couples who live away from their wider family rely more on each other, so they share more.
The dual worker family
In a dual worker family both partners earn. This is common in many societies today. Because both bring in money, it is harder to argue that the man should be the only breadwinner. The couple is more likely to share the money, the decisions and the housework.
Worked example
Priya and Dan both work full time. They take turns to cook, and each does the school run on two days a week. This is a dual worker family with joint conjugal roles. If they also spend most of their free time together at home, it is close to Willmott and Young's symmetrical family.
The pivot or sandwich generation
Squeezed in the middle: the sandwich generation cares for their own children and their ageing parents at once
People now often have children later and live longer. As a result, some adults find themselves "sandwiched" between two generations: their children, who still need care, and their parents, who need help as they age. They are pivoting between the two.
This puts extra pressure on the middle generation's time and money. It can also change conjugal roles, because the couple must decide who looks after which relative.
Real change or not?
Evidence is mixed, so you need both sides.
✅ Evidence for change
- In many societies men now do more housework and childcare than their fathers or grandfathers did.
- Many fathers now take part in caring for babies and young children, and some take leave to do so.
- More couples are dual worker families, so more money and decisions are shared.
❌ Evidence against
- Women still do most of the domestic work in many societies.
- Many women still face the dual burden of paid work and housework.
- Both partners working does not always mean the housework is shared, so a dual worker family is not always a symmetrical family.
- Feminist critics argue that the symmetrical family exaggerates how equal couples really are (see the lesson Feminist Views of the Family).
A balanced view is that roles have become more equal, but not fully equal.
Common mistakes
Do not say that all families are symmetrical. Willmott and Young described a trend, not every family. Also do not say that nothing has changed. The best answers give evidence for and against, then reach a conclusion.
Exam-style question
(a) Define the term dual worker family. [2 marks]
(c) Explain three reasons why conjugal roles have become more joint in some societies. [6 marks]
Model answer
(a) A family in which both partners are in paid work (1), so both bring in an income (1).
(c) First, more women now go out to work, so they are less willing to do all the housework alone (1) and the couple shares jobs instead (1). Second, labour-saving technology such as washing machines makes housework quicker (1), so it is easier for both partners to take a share (1). Third, couples who live away from the wider family rely more on each other (1), so they share the housework and childcare between them (1).
Exam tip
For a "three reasons" question, give each reason its own sentence, then add a short explanation of why it matters. Each reason is worth 2 marks, so one reason alone earns only a third of the marks.