Evaluation

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The Domestic Division of Labour

Feminists reject the view that the family is now symmetrical, arguing that families remain patriarchal and that inequalities in the domestic division of labour remain widespread.

House work

Evidence indicates that women still carry out the majority of domestic tasks around the house despite being in paid employment themselves.
There is no modern country in the world where men do more of the housework, or even as much as, women (Knudsen Wærness).

Child care

Women living with a male partner who are in full-time work are responsible, on average, for two-thirds of the time couples spend on household and childcare activities (European Social Survey, 2010/2011).

Shopping

More than three-quarters of women take all or most of the responsibility for household food shopping (Food Standards Agency, 2007).

Care

Women are more likely to take time off paid work to look after sick children (Harkness).

The ‘dual burden’

Feminists argue that women entering paid work have led to them carrying a ‘dual burden’, that is, having to carry out both paid work and unpaid domestic labour.

Duncombe and Marsden

Duncombe and Marsden argue that women are putting in a ‘triple shift’, the dual burden plus having to engage in emotional work, such as caring for upset children and dealing with family rows.

Power and Authority

Among professional couples who are both in full-time employment, Edgell found that it was still the man who made most of the important decisions.

Edgell

In regards to financial decision-making and money management, fewer than half of working women are responsible for making financial decisions for the family.

Pahl

Pahl found that there is growing individualisation in finances, with couples having more independence through, for example, separate bank accounts and credit cards, although this is more likely among younger couples.

Explanation

The reasons of such inequalities includes:
- The greater economic power of men (men earn more and are still the highest earners in most families).
- Women’s family and domestic responsibilities disadvantage them in the job market.
- Patriarchal gender socialisation reinforce cultural norms, including the woman as homemaker.

Domestic Violence

Radical feminists see domestic violence as a means by which men can control women and exercise their patriarchal power.

Domestic violence

Women and children are primarily on the receiving end of the most serious violence and abuse in the family.
Only about a quarter of all serious domestic violence incidents are reported to the police.
The police and the courts are often reluctant to become involved in domestic abuse incidents, although such incidents are now beginning to be taken more seriously.

Radical feminists

Radical feminists see domestic violence as a means by which men can control women and exercise their patriarchal power.
Dobash and Dobash argue that violence against women is used to keep them in a state of submission.

Marxists feminists

Marxists feminists place wider emphasis on structural factors as well as patriarchy, including social deprivation and a culture of violence, particularly in some sections of the working class.