Source A Young and Willmott (1973) argued that the symmetrical family was becoming more common in modern industrial societies. They suggested that conjugal ...

(a) Conjugal roles are the roles played by a husband and wife, or partners living together, within the home. [1] They may be segregated (where each partner has clearly different responsibilities, such as the man as breadwinner and the woman as homemaker) or joint (where tasks, decisions and leisure activities are shared more equally between partners). [1]

(b) One change is that more women now participate in paid employment outside the home. [1] This represents a significant departure from the traditional role of full-time housewife and mother, as women now contribute directly to family income alongside their partners. [1]

A second change is that men are more involved in childcare than in previous generations. [1] Fathers now spend more time feeding, bathing, playing with and supervising their children, reflecting changing cultural expectations of what fatherhood involves. [1]

(c) Feminism has influenced changes in family life through several interconnected pathways:

1. Feminism challenged the traditional division of labour by arguing that confining women to domestic roles was unjust and socially constructed rather than biologically determined. [1] Feminist campaigns for equal pay and equal opportunities in the workplace enabled more women to build independent careers and earn their own income. [1]
2. This economic independence gave women greater power within the family to negotiate a fairer sharing of housework and childcare. [1] Women who earned their own income were no longer financially dependent on a husband and could leave unsatisfying relationships.
3. Feminist writers such as Oakley (1974) drew public attention to the monotonous, isolating and undervalued nature of housework, [1] helping to change attitudes about what domestic labour is worth and who should perform it.
4. The feminist movement also influenced government policies on issues such as maternity and paternity leave, [1] contributing to institutional changes that support more equal partnerships within the family. [1]

(d) The source describes Young and Willmott's finding that the symmetrical family, characterised by increasingly equal conjugal roles, was becoming the norm in modern industrial societies. [1] From the source, husbands were sharing more housework and childcare, both partners were in paid employment, and major decisions were made jointly rather than by one partner alone. [1] This represents a significant shift away from the rigidly segregated conjugal roles of earlier generations. [1]

Drawing on wider knowledge, several social changes support this view. The decline of traditional male-dominated industries and the growth of the service sector created more employment opportunities for women. [1] The feminist movement challenged the expectation that women should be solely responsible for the home. [1] Smaller family sizes, resulting from effective contraception, mean that the period of intensive childcare is shorter, making it easier for both parents to work. [1] Sullivan (2000) analysed time-use data and found that men's share of domestic labour had increased over time, particularly among younger, better-educated couples. [1] Technological changes such as washing machines, dishwashers and other domestic appliances have also reduced the total volume of housework, making sharing more practical. [1]

(e) This question asks whether men and women now share domestic responsibilities equally, or whether significant inequalities persist behind the appearance of change.

Arguments that domestic responsibilities are now shared equally:

• Young and Willmott (1973): Found that the symmetrical family was becoming dominant, with husbands contributing more to domestic tasks and couples making joint decisions about family life.
• Sullivan (2000): Analysed time-use data spanning several decades and found a gradual trend towards more equal sharing, especially among younger generations.
• Practical pressures: The growth of dual-earner families creates a practical necessity for sharing, since it is difficult for one partner to manage all domestic work alongside full-time employment.
• Changing fatherhood norms: Cultural expectations of fathers have shifted towards 'hands-on' parenting, encouraging men to take a greater and more active role in childcare.

Arguments that domestic responsibilities remain unequal:

• Oakley (1974): Found that even when husbands 'helped' around the house, women still performed the majority of housework and bore the primary responsibility for organising and managing domestic life.
• The triple shift: Duncombe and Marsden (1995) argued that women perform three overlapping shifts: paid work, domestic labour, and emotional work (managing the emotional well-being and relationships within the family).
• The second shift: Hochschild (1989) coined this term to describe how women in full-time employment return home to a 'second shift' of cooking, cleaning and childcare.
• Task quality gap: Feminist research indicates that apparent equality in some tasks masks persistent inequality in others. Men are more likely to choose occasional, enjoyable tasks (playing with children, DIY projects), while women perform the repetitive, routine tasks (cleaning, laundry, cooking, ironing).

Conclusion: While there has been genuine progress towards more equal sharing of domestic responsibilities, the evidence suggests that true equality has not been achieved. Women continue to bear a disproportionate burden of housework, childcare and emotional labour. The appearance of greater equality can mask persistent underlying inequalities in both the quantity and the nature of the domestic work that men and women perform. [15]