Candidates should show an awareness of the various ways that family roles
are changing in MIS’s. They are likely to look at husbands’ and wives’ roles in
their response but the role of children may also be considered. It is likely that
candidates will engage with the feminist debate here.
Possible answers:
FOR
• loss of family functions means that roles once taken by the family e.g.
taking care of the children, are now performed by the state;
• sandwich/pivot generation – roles of parents now often involve
supporting children into adulthood – the boomerang family;
• changing legislation affects family roles e.g. equality acts, children’s acts,
maternity/paternity leave etc;
• increased levels of divorce in society means that both men and women
are having to change their roles to fit the new family structure they find
themselves in – single parent, singlehood, blended families etc;
• secularisation has meant there is less pressure for people to get married
and to have children in wedlock – this leads to greater family diversity
and therefore different family roles;
• in child-centred MIS’s, the role of the child has changed to be the focus
of many families, highly protected and with a lot of power over decisions
and day-to-day family life;
• traditional conjugal roles are typically being replaced by joint conjugal
roles, largely due to feminism and the greater power and status women
have in both society and the family;
• the maternal role has changed to the rise in working women and
childless women;
• the paternal role has changed to reflect the decline in the hegemonic
male and the rise in new men and househusbands;
• grand-parents may be playing an increasingly important role in organising
family life – through childcare, financial and emotional support;
• other reasonable response.
AGAINST
• grand-parents always played a large role in family life, through extended
family structures so this hasn’t changed;
• children are still lower in status and power than adult family members
and subject to adult authority, this hasn’t changed;
• whilst there is a lot of evidence to show that families today are more
symmetrical it is still typically the woman who performs the majority of
the household tasks;
• the maternal role has changed but stereotypes have not and for most
women, having children often leads to a career break or to part-time
work meaning that they become the primary care giver in the family;
• the paternal role may not have changed much at all in the family – it is still
typically the father who is in charge of household finances and important
decisions (Edgell, Pahl) as well as being the breadwinner;
• with an increase in boomerang families there has been a continuation in
MIS’s of the traditional parent-child relationship;
• there is often a dual or triple burden placed upon women in family life,
meaning she is responsible for both paid work, domestic work and
emotional work;
• other reasonable response.
Band 0 [0 marks]
No creditworthy response.
Band 1 [1–4 marks]
Answers in this band may be vague and largely based on common sense
showing limited knowledge of the extent to which family roles are changing.
Use of sociological terms or concepts is very unlikely. Responses may be
short, undeveloped and one-sided. e.g. ‘women and men both go out to
work now so they both have to do the housework’. Lower in the band (1-2
marks), expect one or two weak points. Higher in the band (3-4 marks)
candidates may offer more than two points or provide a weak definition of
key terms, e.g. family roles means the parts played by different members of
the family e.g. the housewife role.
Band 2 [5–8 marks]
In this band candidates will show some basic knowledge of the extent to
which family roles are changing. Alternatively, they may offer an answer
which is list-like in nature but there will be no real attempt to assess the
issues raised by the question. There may be limited/some use of
sociological terms or concepts. Responses may be underdeveloped and
lack range. Answers may be simplistic and two-sided responses are unlikely
e.g. ‘Women are sometimes the ones who are the breadwinners in the
family today whilst the men stay at home as househusbands’ etc. Lower in
the band, the response will be rather narrow in the points covered and there
will be little development. Higher in the band, more points will be covered
and there will be limited development of some points. Alternatively, a list-like
answer with little development covering both sides of the argument may
score up to 8 marks.
A one-sided answer cannot score higher than 8 marks.
Band 3 [9–12 marks]
Answers in this band will show good sociological knowledge and
understanding of the extent to which family roles are changing. Sociological
terms and concepts will be used with greater accuracy and/or frequency.
For the most part, answers will be well developed, focused on the question
and there will be a range of points presented. Candidates may say that e.g.
‘Despite more equality in society leading to changing roles within the family,
women still do most of the housework, emotional work and childcare whilst
men are still seen to be the ones who make the important financial decisions
in the home. This hasn’t changed’. Or ‘Men and women are equal now in
society thanks to the feminist movement and so this has also been
transferred to the family where conjugal roles are now shared. This has
reduced status and power divisions in the family and has resulted in
developments such as the househusband and the new man becoming more
normal male family roles’. There will be a two-sided response but this may be
unbalanced. At the bottom of the band, candidates may provide a narrower
range of well developed points. At the top of the band, expect a wider range
of points and clear focus on the question.
Band 4 [13–15 marks]
Answers in this band will show excellent knowledge and understanding of
the extent to which family roles are changing. There will be a strong grasp of
the argument as well as accurate and frequent use of sociological terms and
concepts. Answers will be well developed, clearly focused on the question
and discuss a wide range of points. Responses will be two-sided and
balanced. At the bottom of the band (13 marks), the answer may lack a
specific conclusion. Higher in the band, there will be a clear attempt to offer
an assessment of the ‘To what extent.?’ part of the question through a
focused conclusion. Candidates should show consideration of points for and
against the idea of family roles changing, citing some of the examples given