11

Click here to load reader

Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

8/7/2019 Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/do-women-and-men-retain-their-traditional-roles 1/11

Analyse whether women and men retain the traditional roles of homemaker 

and breadwinner today.

In this assignment I will analyse whether in today’s society women and men

retain their traditional roles of homemaker and breadwinner. To identify the

key features of traditional family life I will review two crucial periods in the

construction of the UK family policy – ‘normal’ family in the post war period

and reformulation of the family in the eighties. To analyse present gender 

roles I will use national statistics to establish employment patterns of men and

women and differences in lifestyles. I will compare working

lives of men and women and look at the introduction of ‘family friendly’

working policies along with state benefits and opportunities. I will take

into consideration that whilst there are commonalities in the way people

construct their family life there is nothing officially set relating to the

structure of a family, and that it will be conventional or unconventional

depending it’s individuals. I will consider the current level

of lone parent families, the effect of divorce, remarriage and cohabiting

to establish whether the traditional gender roles are retained within families

and households today.

Since the introduction of the Poor Law the key features of family life were for 

parents to support their children, husbands to support wives and adults to

support their aged parents. The state began to supplement family incomes

through the introduction of free school meals and welfare benefits for the sick,

disabled, elderly and unemployed on the assumption that society would be

200605795 1

Page 2: Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

8/7/2019 Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/do-women-and-men-retain-their-traditional-roles 2/11

made up of three generations. John Muncie provided details of the initial

major reforms in his book entitled ‘Understanding the Family’ the author 

referred to the reforms as the Education Act (1944) which made secondary

education compulsory. The Family Allowance Act (1945) which saw the

introduction of universal benefits for families with two or more dependants.

Further reforms he referred to were the National Health Service Act (1946)

which reorganised the health provision to provide a free and universal

service, the National Insurance Act (1946) which saw the extension of 

unemployment and sickness benefits and finally the Children Act (1948)

which coordinated local authority services for children in need. The reforms

that followed the Beveridge Report (1942) saw the creation of a post war 

welfare state which was to assist society to overcome squalor, ignorance,

idleness want and disease also known as the five evils (Muncie, 1995:42)

This I feel was the period that recognised that a ‘normal’ family was a gender 

structured family parented by a male breadwinner and a female homemaker.

Beveridge clearly stated who was responsible for whom in families and this

was apparent in his National Insurance proposal, it was based on married

women being financially dependant on their husbands. This resulted in the

restriction of a married woman’s right to benefits, this can be seen in the

quote below made by Beveridge in relation to this issue;

During marriage most women will not be gainfully employed.

The minority of women who undertake paid employment require

special treatment differing from that of a single woman.

200605795 2

Page 3: Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

8/7/2019 Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/do-women-and-men-retain-their-traditional-roles 3/11

Since such paid work in many cases will be intermittent it

should be open to any married woman to undertake it as an exempt

person, paying no contributions of her own and acquiring

no claim to benefit in employment or sickness. If she prefers

to contribute ….. she may do so but will receive benefits at

a reduced rate.

(Beveridge, 1942 :50)

As the above quote states married women were given a different class of 

insurance. By doing this it was accepted that the role of homemaker would be

the sole occupation of a married woman and that through marriage a wife

gained a legal right to maintenance by her husband. Post War social security

was set on male patterns of employment; married women’s employment was

classed as unimportant as women were presumed dependent on a man. The

Welfare State was expected to play a major part in establishing a ‘strong

British nation’. Pascall (1986: 198) identifies the three main features of ‘family

ideology expressed in the Beveridge Report’: women do housework, care for 

children and look after elderly relatives, couples consist of a full time worker 

(usually a male bread winner) and a ‘housewife’ whose work outside the

home is insignificant and finally women can look to men for financial support.

(Muncie et al, 1995: 44)

The foundation of the welfare state was formed around the idea that a family

was a traditional gender division and related to the economic issues of that

time. Karen Struening author of the book ‘New Family Values’ (2002: 4) stated

200605795 3

Page 4: Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

8/7/2019 Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/do-women-and-men-retain-their-traditional-roles 4/11

that historically this was often the case as the majority of men were employed

in manual roles within local industry. Struening (2002: 5) also stated that

labour and economic changes began to affect the gender structured

family in the 1970’s with the decline of industry leading to a decrease

in earnings for men without qualifications or specialist skills. The loss of the

family wage made it difficult for men to retain the traditional role of 

breadwinner and whilst men’s salaries decreased, greater opportunities

for women developed.

According to the Office of National Statistics: 2004; in 1970 38% of 

married women between the ages of twenty five and thirty four were

employed outside of the home. Women found employment in retail and

administrational roles and although the majority of jobs were low paid,

part time and did not include benefits this had a major effect on the

traditional gender structured family The role of homemaker continued to

disadvantage women in the labour market and changes in family form

and economic issues forced a reform and in 1979 the process was reversed.

State expenditure on welfare services was cut, private welfare was

encouraged and benefit fraud was confronted as a way of helping the

family and by the 1980’s the ’family’ was seen as an alternative to Welfare

State. The legislation was concerned with keeping men economically active,

assuming that a man’s salary would be sufficient to financially support his wife

and family. This however was not the case and the social security reforms

appeared to push both parents into the labour market for financial security.

According to the Office for National Statistics: October 2006; the number of 

200605795 4

Page 5: Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

8/7/2019 Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/do-women-and-men-retain-their-traditional-roles 5/11

women returning to work has increased from 20% in 1990 to 70% in 2005

and since 1971 the rates of employment for men have fallen while the rates

for women have risen. The Beveridge Report of the 1940’s and the reforms

of the 1980’s illustrate how the implementation of health and social security

policies directly affected family life.

The level of change in the availability and structure of employment

opportunities have challenged one routine area of social life. Over the last 30

years the dramatic economic decline and industry restructuring forced major 

levels of unemployment and changed the overall structure of the workforce.

The nuclear family with a sole male breadwinner and dependent wife were no

longer seen as a viable basis for social organisation.

What was to happen to domestic family life was at the centre of change and

from the 1970’s to the present day generational changes are apparent. Family

life is constantly developing and changes occur all the time, since the 1970’s

there have been significant changes to the key aspects of family and

household experiences. One of the changes particularly in Britain has been

the increase of divorce rates, as the rate of divorce rises it is becoming the

norm and according to the Office for National Statistics: July 2005;

in 2003 153,500 children under the age of sixteen were affected by their 

parents divorcing in England and Wales. The level of divorce has contributed

to other changes in family demography in particular the increasing number of 

lone parent households. In 2004 one in four children lived in a lone parent

family (Office for National Statistics : July 2005). It must be noted that it is not

200605795 5

Page 6: Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

8/7/2019 Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/do-women-and-men-retain-their-traditional-roles 6/11

just marital breakdown that generates lone parent families as some parents

have never married. The statistics highlight that lone parenthood is largely

concerned with women as it was recorded in 2004 that 22% of all parents

were headed by single women. The level of women who are not and never 

have married reflects a change in social expectations. In this generation it is

acceptable to have children out of wedlock whereas in previous generations

unmarried pregnancies generally led to marriage prior to birth. A high

proportion of unmarried mothers are cohabiting with the child’s father at the

time of birth. Cohabitation is now a widely acceptable form of union, in 2004

statistics showed that 11% of all families were headed by unmarried parents

living as husband and wife.

The statistics show there has been an increase in the liberalisation of sexual

attitudes, this could be due to a number of reasons such as; contraception

with the introduction in 1967 of the National Health Service Family Planning

Act . Higher Education and changes to housing, gave young people leaving

home the opportunity to become independent whereas previously marriage

and employment had been the only routes. A further reason could be the

changes to household forms and childbearing. Women are having children

later in life and a proportion of women are choosing not to have children.

The birth of children has a major impact on the way a domestic relationship is

organised. It is apparent that fathers participate far more in childrearing

duties today than ever before, however in the majority of cases childcare

continues to be seen as a female responsibility. I identified this was the case

by looking at employment patterns of mothers with young children. According

200605795 6

Page 7: Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

8/7/2019 Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/do-women-and-men-retain-their-traditional-roles 7/11

to the Office for National Statistics : October 2006;

Working-age women with dependent children are less likely than

those without to be in employment and 68% compared with

73% in 2005. The age of the youngest child affects the

employment rate of mothers. 56% of working-age

women with children under 5 were in employment. This compared

with 71% whose youngest child was aged 5 to 10 and 77%

whose youngest child was aged 11 to 15. Conversely, men with

dependent children are more likely than those without to be in

employment. The age of their children has no impact.

Around 90% of men with dependent children were in employment

regardless of the age of their youngest child. Women are

more likely than men to work part time, particularly if they

have dependent children. 39% of women with dependent

children worked part time compared with 22% of those without

dependent children. Only 4% of men with dependent children and

9% of men without dependent children worked part time.

(Focus on Gender: Office for National Statistics: October 2004)

The statistics show there is a clear significance between the age of the

youngest child and participation of the mother in paid employment with the

majority being in part time work. The introduction of ‘family friendly’ policies in the work place have helped create a work life/family balance. Under ‘family

friendly’ legislation, leave is available to employees who have ‘parental

200605795 7

Page 8: Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

8/7/2019 Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/do-women-and-men-retain-their-traditional-roles 8/11

responsibility’ with both parents being able to take up to13 weeks unpaid

parental leave per child. Other ‘family friendly’ rights include paid adoption

leave, paid maternity support leave (paternity leave); the right for parents to

apply to work flexibly; improvements in maternity leave; and increases in tax

credits for children and childcare

To establish how house keeping duties are distributed within the family home I

have looked at the statistics relating to lifestyles recorded by the Office of 

National Statistics: October 2006.

Men were more likely than women to take part in

leisure (224 minutes per day compared with 180

minutes per day for women in 2005). Women were

more likely than men to spend time reading or 

socialising with other people (113 minutes per day

compared with 100 minutes per day). On average, men

spent 28 minutes per day using a computer and women

13 minutes. In 2006, 65% of men and 55% of women had

accessed the Internet, whether at home or elsewhere, in the

three months before interview. Of these, men used the Internet

more regularly with nearly two thirds (64%) using it every

day or almost every day, compared with 54% of women.

Internet shopping is becoming increasingly popular. A slightly

Higher proportion of men than women used the Internet to

purchase goods or services associated with leisure,

(53% of men compared with 48% of women) and videos or DVDs

200605795 8

Page 9: Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

8/7/2019 Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/do-women-and-men-retain-their-traditional-roles 9/11

(45% compared with 39%). Conversely a higher proportion of 

women than men used the Internet to purchase clothing or 

sports goods (42%of women and 34%of men), and food and

groceries (25% of women and 16% of men). Women in Great

Britain spent more time on shopping and other domestic work in

2005 than on paid work, 228 minutes and 146 minutes respectively. In comparison, men spent more time on paid work (225 minutes) than

on domestic work (129 minutes). If paid work and domestic work are

combined, women still spent 20 minutes more on average per day on

work than men. Overall, women carried out about two thirds of the

time spent on housework (178 minutes a day compared with 100

minutes for men).Women spent more time than men cooking and

washing up, cleaning and tidying, washing clothes and shopping

(159 minutes per day compared with 71 minutes per day for men).

Men spent more time performing DIY repairs and gardening

(23 minutes per day compared with 11 minutes per day for women).

(Focus on Gender: Office for National Statistics: October 2004)

To conclude through researching the traditional and contemporary roles of the

famiIy I have found that over the last two decades the lives of men and

women have become more similar. However, there are noticeable differences

with regards to running the family home and employment. According to the

Office of National Statistics, 2006, with regards to labour, in 1985 there were

2.0 million more men employed than women. In 2005 men and women were

employed in an equal number of roles with each sex performing 13.3 million

200605795 9

Page 10: Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

8/7/2019 Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/do-women-and-men-retain-their-traditional-roles 10/11

jobs. However, half of women were in part time employment compared to one

out of six men being employed on a part time basis. The figures show that

more men are employed on a full time basis than women therefore it could be

said that a higher number of women are working part time in order to create a

balance between work and the role of homemaker. I have identified that

contemporary families are not made up solely of a married couple and

their children and that the traditional concept of a family excluded lone parent

families, same sex couples, female breadwinners and step families. I

found that the way a family operates reflects the different social and economic

positions of each individual within it and that the external factors and issues

that influence family life are extensive. The change in employment structure

altered the division of labour and financial responsibility within the family along

with demands on family support made by health and education authorities

all have had an impact on the domestic and family characteristics and

relationships. Overall I have found that each family will develop over 

time as circumstances change and however conventional or unconventional

the family is, it will alter with age and dependency of children. Less

predictable factors could also influence the family roles such as divorce or 

unemployment. The ideologies of parenting and childhood have dramatically

changed over the last 30 years and there appears to be an opportunity now

for parents to balance work and domestic duties with the assistance of ‘family

friendly’ policies. However, statistics do show that on average men spend

more time out at work than women and on average women spend more time

doing domestic duties than men do.

200605795 10

Page 11: Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

8/7/2019 Do Women and Men Retain Their Traditional Roles

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/do-women-and-men-retain-their-traditional-roles 11/11

Bibliography

Graham Allan and Graham Crow, 2001. Families, Households and Society.

Basingstoke – Palgrave Publishers.

John Muncie, Margaret Wetherell, Rudi Dollos and Allan Cochrane, 1995.Understanding the Family. London – Sage Publishers.

Karen Struening, 2002. New Family Values – Liberty, Equality, Diversity.Oxford – Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Ltd.

www.unison.org.uk

www.jrf.org.uk

www.statistics.gov.uk

200605795 11