This question came up in the families and households section of the June 2023 Topics in Sociology A-level exam paper.
This is was a 10 mark with item question. In such questions you MUST take your two points from the item.
Full Question including item…
Read Item C below and answer the question that follows.
Item C
Globalisation has increased the movement of people around the world. It has also led to wider access in the UK to technological developments.
Globalisation may affect domestic labour in the UK.
Applying material from Item C, analyse two ways that globalisation may affect domestic labour in the UK (10)
Hints for answering this question
In 10 mark questions with an item, you MUST use the item!
In this particular question there are only TWO points in the item anyway, which should be your lead points:
- increased migration
- Increasing access to technologies.
The mark scheme says that you could mention the following sources but these aren’t necessary for a full-mark answer.
Sources may include the following or other relevant ones:
Arber and Ginn; Ehrenreich and Hochschild; Gershuny; Kan; Shutes; Silver and Schor; Vertovec.
A possible answer…
One aspect of globalisation is Increasing movements of people around the world has meant increasing migration to the UK.
In the 1950s to the 1970s this meant primarily an increase in Caribbean and Asian families to the UK.
Traditionally, Asian families had more traditional gender roles. Women took on most of the housework and childcare. As a result, there was an increase in the traditional gendered division of labour. Men assumed the breadwinner role, while women held the role of carer.
In recent years, there has been a move towards more equality within gender relations. However, contemporary Asian families still tend to stick to traditional roles.
A lot of more recent migrants work as household cleaners and child carers. For those households that can afford them, this would mean men do less domestic work. Women would also do less domestic work themselves. However, probably this would benefit women more than men.
This allows wealthier women to do less domestic labour and pursue careers. However, migrant women are burdened with even more domestic labour, just working for someone else. Most of these paid domestic workers are women, so this just reinforces traditional domestic roles.
A final aspect of migration is emigration. Many older people migrate to foreign countries, meaning they would not be available to do childcare for their grandchildren. This could increase the amount of domestic labour parents have to do.
A second aspect of globalisation is increased access to new technologies in the UK.
Hans Rosling famously analysed the impact of the washing machine on freeing up women from domestic labour. Washing used to take an entire day a week. Now it doesn’t. Women in the UK have benefitted by being able to spend more time on education and in work.
Household technologies have largely reduced what radical feminists refer to as the dual burden. However as Marxist Feminists point out this would apply more to wealthier rather than poorer households.
Household technologies have reduced inequalities in the domestic division labor, but they are not completely gone. Even with techs, women still do more domestic labour than men.
Moreover, technologies are gendered… Women are more likely to use washing machines and do the ironing. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to limit themselves to using power tools for DIY.
Technology may also have had negative impacts on the domestic division of labour. The rise of tablets and phones have made it easier for children to access people like Andrew Tate. He spreads a message of toxic masculinity. This message advocates for traditional gender roles. The idea that women should clear up after men, for example, is part of it.
Signposting
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