From the 1950’s some sociologists started to claim that there had been significant changes in family life. The tendency appeared to be towards more communitydomesticequalfamilyfinanciallyLeisurenuclearpartnershipprivatisedsymmetricaltrade families, more women working and smaller family size. Many nuclear families appeared communitydomesticequalfamilyfinanciallyLeisurenuclearpartnershipprivatisedsymmetricaltrade better off than before and with more leisure time. communitydomesticequalfamilyfinanciallyLeisurenuclearpartnershipprivatisedsymmetricaltrade time appeared to be spend within the family

The Privatised Family

David Lockwood and John Goldthorpe suggested that families were becoming communitydomesticequalfamilyfinanciallyLeisurenuclearpartnershipprivatisedsymmetricaltrade - meaning more private and inward looking than before.
Contact with extended kin and with other members of the communitydomesticequalfamilyfinanciallyLeisurenuclearpartnershipprivatisedsymmetricaltrade diminished and the family became home centred.
Leisure time was spent at home with communitydomesticequalfamilyfinanciallyLeisurenuclearpartnershipprivatisedsymmetricaltrade members instead of outside in the community. Solitary pursuits such as watching TV, gardening and DIY became more important than community focussed activities such as going to the pub, going to church, getting involved in clubs, societies, political parties or communitydomesticequalfamilyfinanciallyLeisurenuclearpartnershipprivatisedsymmetricaltrade unions.

The Symmetrical Family
Willmott and Young have suggested that the modern family is communitydomesticequalfamilyfinanciallyLeisurenuclearpartnershipprivatisedsymmetricaltrade - by this they mean that couples had become more communitydomesticequalfamilyfinanciallyLeisurenuclearpartnershipprivatisedsymmetricaltrade in role and importance in the family. In symmetrical families they argue communitydomesticequalfamilyfinanciallyLeisurenuclearpartnershipprivatisedsymmetricaltrade tasks are more likely to be shared and both couples are likely to work - traditional male and female roles were seen to have broken down.
Wilmott and Young also suggested that in the symmetrical family the couple had an equal communitydomesticequalfamilyfinanciallyLeisurenuclearpartnershipprivatisedsymmetricaltrade in decision making

Now Try these Tasks

1. In your experience do fathers now play an equal role in family life and the domestic work of the home?
2. Draw a table to show who does the following in your household or family
Ironing, washing, meals, cleaning, DIY repairs, car maintenance, making important financial decisions, management of family finances
3. Look at your table and those of others in your group - are any of the activities still gender linked?
4. In your opinion is the modern family privatised?
5. In your opinion is the modern family symmetrical?