Essay 2-Examine the factors affecting the domestic division of labour and power relations between couples.

Examine the factors affecting the domestic division of labour and power relations between couples.

-Social values should be the first and major reason for the domestic division of labour and power relationships between couples especially in the past. Considering nuclear family as the dominant type of family,functionalists believe that the division roles of couples from which females stay at home,taking care of children and doing domestic work while males go out for jobs as expressive and instrumental roles helps the smooth running of society. Similarly,marxists think females provide the emotional support to the males of proletariats that can helps the maintenance of capitalist system as the normal running of society. Therefore,these views produce a fixed ideology of the roles between females and males that women also consider it's their reponsibility to do domestic work and child-care which is found by Oakley. Affected by these view,some policies tend to protect the males at the cost of females like 1979 Conservative government that it encouraged mothers to stay at home to do the take care of children and old people in order to make up for the reduced benefits to family. Besides,during the industrialisation,women were forced to go to labour market in the 20th century and gradually produced the clear separation of roles between couples which tend to cause asymmetrical form of family. Consequently,men is likely to earn more money and have financial power to control the family and make decisions. It can be proved by Mansfield&Collard that men tend to change jobs with higher salary after marriage and that men are likely to have finance control of family suggested by Vogler and Paul. Lastly,the change in education which welcome females and more available subjects also improve the quality of women and confidence.
However,with the changes of labour market,social policy,education and social values,women tend to have more rights with increasing financial independence and confidence.