welcome to this toru sociology topic video for GCSE sociology in this video we're going to look at one of the classic texts in the family the symmetrical family by Wilmont and young Michael Young and Peter Wilmont were two British sociologist who conducted influential research on family structures their work especially their study on the symmetrical family provides important insight into how family roles and structures have evolved over time they explored the changing Dynamics with in families focusing on how household roles became more balanced between men and women Jung and wilmot's research is rooted in the functionalist perspective which seees society as a system of interconnected parts that work together to maintain stability they believe that the family is a crucial institution that adapts to meet the needs of society Wilmont and Young's study also intersects with the march of progress view which looks at how societies evolve over time and how these changes impact on social institutions like the family as part of the march of progress view Jung and Wilmot identified several stages in the evolution of family structure in Britain firstly the pre-industrial family in pre-industrial times families were large and extended often living together or close by family members worked together in agriculture or small family businesses with little distinction between home and work life with the Industrial Revolution many families moved to urban areas for factory work this period saw a shift towards the nuclear family a man and wife and their biological children but extended families still played a significant role especially for support and Child Care by the mid 20th century young and Wilmont observed the rise of the symmetrical family this type of family is characterized by more equal roles between husbands and wives with both Partners sharing housew work child care and paid employment this change was particularly evident in younger more affluent families Jung and Wilmer also predicted an evolution of the family towards becoming asymmetrical reflecting on the tendency of upper class families to spend leisure time apart they predicted this would pass down to lower social classes through the process of stratified diffusion however critics would argue that this never truly came to pass young and wilmart used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to gather data for their research predominantly they used large scale surveys to collect data for a broad cross-section of the population and these surveys included questions about household roles work patterns and family relationships however they also conducted in-depth interviews with family members to gain deeper insights into their experiences attitudes and behaviors to triangulate their findings this helped the researchers understand the nuances of family life that surveys might not have captured young and wilmot's research revealed several important Trends and characteristics of the symmetrical family firstly they found that the in the symmetrical family both husbands and wives participated in paid employment and shared household duties this was a significant shift from earlier times when domestic work was primarily the responsibility of women there was also shared decision making decision- making within the family was more collaborative with both Partners having a say in important matters like finances child care and home management symmetrical families also spent more leisure time together instead of men going out to socialize separately families were engage in activities as a unit fostering stronger family bonds another Finding of young and Wilmont was the improved living standards and the availability of household technology like washing machines and vacuum cleaners which reduce the time needed for housework making it easier for couples to share these tasks and finally greater geographical Mobility moving for work opportunities contributed to the rise of the nuclear family as families moved away from the extended family networks they became more self-reliant and organized household tasks more equitably while young and wilmot's research has been highly influential it has also faced several criticisms critics argue that young and Wilmont may have overgeneralized our findings while they found evidence of symmetrical families this might not have been representative of All Families especially those from different social classes or cultural backgrounds some critics also suggest that their portrayal of the symmetrical family was overly idealistic in reality many families might not experience such equality and traditional gender roles can still be prevalent the research also focused mainly on two parent families potentially overlooking the experiences challenges faced by single parent families or other family forms and since their research was conducted in the mid 20th century some of their findings may be outdated family Dynamics have continued to evolve with further shifts in gender roles and family structures in recent decades young and wilmot's research on the symmetrical family has been instrumental in highlighting the changing Dynamics with within British families by identifying the trend towards more equal roles between husbands and wives their work challenged traditional Notions of family life and provided a new understanding of family roles despite some criticisms their study remains a valuable resource for understanding how families adapt to Social and economic changes and their research continues to influence sociological thinking about family life and the ongoing evolution of household roles whilst also acknowledging the Persistence of inequality in certain contexts that concludes this Tu sociology topic video for GCSE sociology looking at research by Will M young into the symmetrical family thanks for watching