Symmetrical Family

The Four Stages of Development

'Symmetrical family' is a term created by Young and Willmott, which describes a nuclear family whose spouses are equally responsible for tasks and decision-making. There are four stages involved.

First stage

In the first stage of the development is the pre-industrial family, made up of the father, mother, and the children.
The whole family worked in agriculture and were a single unit of production.

Second stage

From the 18th century until the early 20th century, we have the early industrial family.
Family members were employed and were no longer seen as a single unit.
Families relied on extended family members for support with domestic chores and childminding.
Extended family ties were strong.
This type of family can still be found today in low-income working-class families.

Third stage

The symmetrical family.
Young and Willmott carried out a survey with almost 2,000 participants in areas around London, which found that:
- People lived a more home-centred life (spending more time at home entertaining themselves rather than going out) thanks to technological advancements.
- Spouses were sharing domestic tasks.

Fourth stage

The asymmetrical family.
The family of a managing director family is described as 'asymmetrical' since the household tasks are not equally shared between the man and woman.

Key Study: Symmetrical Family

P. Willmott and M. Young conducted a key study called ‘The Symmetrical Family’ (1973), which offered a functionalist perspective on the symmetrical family. Nearly 2,000 people were interviewed.

Symmetrical family

Symmetrical family describes a family in stage three of the development - the (home-centred) nuclear family.
The term Symmetrical family is used when each spouse makes similar contributions to the household, and conjugal roles are equally important.
The study revealed that this ‘symmetry’ is usually found in working-class families.

Stratified Diffusion

Young and Willmott's theory of stratified diffusion suggests that what starts at the top of the social stratification system will eventually spread to the lower strata.

Criticisms

Young and Willmott have been criticised for the symmetrical family by feminists who couldn’t find evidence of spouses equally sharing the responsibilities at home.
Critics also couldn't find any signs of working-class families moving towards the 4th stage (asymmetrical family).

Reasons for Symmetrical Families

There are several reasons for the rise of the symmetrical family.

Better living standards

Advancements in technology mean that people are becoming more home-centred.
People have everything they need at home to entertain themselves.

Changes in the status of women

As women become more interested in their education and their career, they feel more independent and their spouses tend to treat them as equals.

Fewer children being born

Thanks to contraception, couples now have more control over family planning.

Geographical mobility

Due to the fact that people tend to move away from home, the lack of a support system leads to spouses having to share tasks in order to get everything done.

Commercialisation of housework

The invention of new appliances (e.g. the washing machine and the hoover) has reduced the amount of time needed to carry out domestic tasks.

1The Sociological Approach

1.1Introduction to Sociology

1.1.1What is Sociology?

1.1.2Culture & Socialisation

1.2Sociological Approaches

1.2.1Marxism

1.2.2Marxism 2

1.2.3Functionalism

1.2.4Feminism

1.3The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.1The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.2End of Topic Test - The Sociological Approach

2Families

2.1Functions of Families

2.1.1Functionalist Views on Family

2.1.2Marxist Views on Family

2.1.3Feminist Views on Family

2.2Family Forms

2.2.1What is a Family?

2.2.2Nuclear Family

2.2.3Families in a Global Context

2.2.4The Rapoports & Family Diversity

2.2.5Causes of Family Diversity

2.2.6End of Topic Test - Family Forms

2.3Conjugal Role Relationships

2.3.1Conjugal Roles

2.4Changing Relationships Within Families

2.4.1Timeline

2.4.2Domestic Abuse

2.4.3Symmetrical Family

2.5Criticisms of Families

2.5.1Functionalist Views of Families

2.5.2Marxist Views of Families

2.5.3Feminist Views of Families

2.5.4Declining Marriage Rate

2.5.5End of Topic Test - Criticisms of Families

2.6Divorce

2.6.1Reasons For Rise in Divorce Rate

2.6.2Consequences of Divorce

2.6.3Functionalist Views

2.6.4Marxist Views

2.6.5Feminist Views

2.6.6End of Topic Test - Divorce

3Education

3.1Roles & Functions of Education

3.1.1The Functionalist Approach

3.1.2Evaluating Different Perspectives

3.1.3Types of School

3.1.4Alternative Education

3.1.5State & Private Schools

3.2Processes Within Schools

3.2.1Internal Processes

3.2.2External Processes

3.3Educational Achievement

3.3.1Measuring Educational Success

3.3.2Social Class & Education

3.3.3Social Class & External Factors

3.3.4Gender & Education

3.3.5Ethnicity & Education

3.3.6Parental Choice

3.3.7History of UK Education Policy

3.3.8Recent UK Education Policy

3.3.9End of Topic Test - Education

4Crime & Deviance

4.1The Social Construction of Crime

4.1.1Defining Crime & Deviance

4.1.2Sociological Explanations of Crime

4.1.3Interactionist Explanations of Crime

4.1.4Alternative Explanations of Crime

4.2Social Control

4.2.1Informal Social Control

4.2.2Formal Social Control

4.2.3End of Topic Test - Social Construction of Crime

4.3Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

4.3.1Explanations of Crime

4.3.2Social Class & Crime

4.3.3Gender & Crime

4.3.4Ethnicity & Crime

4.3.5Age & Crime

4.3.6Criminal Responsibility

4.3.7The Prison System

4.3.8Media Reporting of Crime

4.3.9Functionalist Explanations of Crime

4.4Data on Crime

4.4.1Measuring Crime

4.4.2End of Topic Test - Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

5Social Stratification

5.1Social Stratification

5.1.1What is Social Stratification?

5.1.2Functionalism

5.1.3Socio-Economic Class

5.1.4Socio-Economic Class 2

5.1.5Life Chances

5.1.6The Affluent Worker

5.1.7End of Topic Test - Social Stratifictaion

5.2Poverty as a Social Issue

5.2.1Defining Poverty

5.2.2Factors Affecting Poverty

5.2.3Explanations of Poverty

5.2.4Impact of Globalisation

5.2.5End of Topic Test - Poverty as a Social Issue

5.3Power & Authority

5.3.1Weber

5.3.2Sociological Perspectives

5.3.3Power Relationships

5.3.4End of Topic Test - Power & Authority

6Sociological Research Methods

6.1Research Methods

6.1.1Research Design

6.1.2The Scientific Method

6.1.3Other Considerations

6.1.4Primary Sources

6.1.5Secondary Sources

6.1.6Surveys

6.1.7Sampling

6.1.8Questionnaires

6.1.9Interviews

6.1.10Observation

6.1.11Statistics

6.1.12Case Studies

6.1.13Longitudinal Studies

6.1.14Ethnography

6.1.15Experiments

6.1.16Small Scale Research

6.1.17End of Topic Test - Research Methods

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