Component 1 Section B (Families and households): conjugal roles and the domestic division of labour, the symmetrical family debate, the dual burden and triple shift, decision-making and money management, and domestic violence as evidence of power.

What this dot point is asking

This statement is about conjugal roles (the roles of partners in a couple), the domestic division of labour, and power in the family. You need the symmetrical family debate (Young and Willmott versus Oakley), the dual burden and triple shift, the evidence on decision-making and money management, and domestic violence as the starkest evidence of power. It is where the abstract feminist argument meets concrete data about who does the housework and who decides.

The answer

Conjugal roles and the symmetrical family

Young and Willmott advanced a march of progress thesis: family life has gradually become more equal and privatised, producing the symmetrical family as women entered paid work, homes improved and attitudes changed. They saw men taking a greater share of domestic tasks and couples spending more leisure time together.

The feminist critique: dual burden and triple shift

Feminists reject the symmetrical family as overstated:

• Oakley found that housework and childcare still fell mainly to women, even when they had paid jobs, and criticised Young and Willmott's evidence as thin.
• The dual burden describes women who do paid work and also carry the main responsibility for unpaid domestic work, so they effectively do two jobs.
• Duncombe and Marsden added the triple shift: on top of paid work and housework, women carry the emotion work of managing the family's feelings and relationships.

Power: decisions, money and violence

Power within the family shows in three measurable ways:

• Decision-making: research by Pahl and Vogler found men often dominate the big financial decisions even where money is notionally shared, while women make day-to-day decisions.
• Money management: arrangements vary, but the allowance system (the man gives the woman housekeeping money) can limit women's access to and control over money.
• Domestic violence: the most serious evidence of patriarchal power. It is widespread, heavily gendered (most serious violence is by men against women), and underreported. Radical feminists argue it is built into patriarchy, not just the acts of disturbed individuals, and that institutions sometimes fail to take it seriously.

The weight of evidence supports the conclusion that conjugal roles are more equal than in the past but remain unequal, especially in housework, childcare and emotion work, so the symmetrical family is overstated.

Examples in context

A strong answer keeps the dual burden and triple shift distinct, uses named researchers (Oakley, Duncombe and Marsden, Pahl and Vogler), and treats domestic violence as evidence of power rather than a separate topic.

Try this

Q1. Explain the difference between segregated and joint conjugal roles. [6 marks]

• What the marker wants. A clear distinction (AO1): segregated roles are separate (male breadwinner, female homemaker, distinct tasks and leisure), joint roles are shared (housework, childcare and leisure divided more equally), with an example of each.

Q2. Analyse two pieces of evidence that suggest the family remains patriarchal. [12 marks]

• Cue. Two developed points: the dual burden and triple shift (women do most domestic and emotion work, Oakley, Duncombe and Marsden), and unequal power over decisions and money or domestic violence (Pahl and Vogler, radical feminists), each explained and linked to continuing male power.