Changing roles in the family Cambridge IGCSE Sociology revision
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In plain words
A hundred years ago a father who changed a nappy was a curiosity, a ten-year-old with a job was normal, and grandparents rarely lived long enough to babysit. Every role in the family has been rewritten since.
8 things to know
- Conjugal roles have moved from segregated towards joint. In a symmetrical family, the roles of the two partners are similar: both do paid work, and both share housework, childcare and leisure. In a dual worker family, both partners have paid jobs.
- Reasons: more women are in paid work, families are smaller, attitudes have changed, and machines have made housework lighter. Feminists reply that women still carry the dual burden.
- With more diverse family types, roles vary more. A lone parent carries out every role. In some couples the father stays at home and the mother is the earner.
- The pivot generation, or sandwich generation, is made up of middle-aged adults who care for their children and for their own ageing parents at the same time. The load falls mainly on women.
- The changing roles of children: children used to be an economic asset, who worked and brought in money. With compulsory schooling and laws against child labour, they have become an economic cost.
- Child-centredness: family life now revolves around the needs and wishes of children. With fewer children, each gets more time, attention and money.
- Boomerang children are young adults who leave home and then return to live with their parents, often because of the cost of housing or the loss of a job.
- The changing roles of grandparents: living longer and in better health, many give childcare, economic support, and wisdom and advice. In very old age, they may become dependent on the family for care.
Worked example
A woman of 50 works part time, drives her father to hospital each week, and has her 24-year-old son living at home again after university. Use two concepts to describe her family.
- She cares for the generation above and the generation below, so she belongs to the sandwich, or pivot, generation.
- Her son left and came back, so he is a boomerang child.
- Both are results of longer lives and of the high cost of setting up an independent home.
Tips and tricks
- Symmetrical does not mean identical. It means that the roles are similar and shared, not that both partners do exactly the same things.
- Children: from economic asset to economic cost. That single phrase earns the mark for how the role of children has changed.
It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.
Changing roles in the family: 5 questions and answers
These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.
What is a dual worker family?
Two earners in one household.
What is the sandwich generation?
They are pressed from both sides.
What are boomerang children?
They leave, and they come back.
What does child-centredness mean?
Fewer children get more attention each.
Why have children become an "economic cost" rather than an "economic asset"?Stretch
They spend their childhood learning, not earning.
Quiz
5 questions
Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Worksheet
3 questions, 10 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.
Changing roles in the family
Cambridge IGCSE Sociology 0495 · 10 marks · papermunch.org
Name ______________________________ Date ______________
What is meant by the term "symmetrical family"?[2]
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A family in which the roles of the two partners are similar, with paid work, housework and childcare shared.
Describe two ways in which the role of children in the family has changed.[4]
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Any two, each described: children have changed from an economic asset to an economic cost, as they study and do not work; families have become child-centred, focusing on children's needs; children stay dependent for longer; some return home as adults, as boomerang children.
Explain two roles that grandparents play in modern families.[4]
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Any two, each explained: childcare, looking after grandchildren while parents work; economic support, helping with money for housing or education; giving wisdom and advice from their experience; in old age, some become dependent and need care from the family.
Answers: Changing roles in the family
- 1. A family in which the roles of the two partners are similar, with paid work, housework and childcare shared.
- 2. Any two, each described: children have changed from an economic asset to an economic cost, as they study and do not work; families have become child-centred, focusing on children's needs; children stay dependent for longer; some return home as adults, as boomerang children.
- 3. Any two, each explained: childcare, looking after grandchildren while parents work; economic support, helping with money for housing or education; giving wisdom and advice from their experience; in old age, some become dependent and need care from the family.