Wives and Work: Theory of the Sex-Role Revolution and Its Consequences

In “Wives and Work:  Theory of the Sex-Role Revolution and Its Consequences,” Kingsley Davis discusses the ongoing evolution of the family system and economy.  From the 1890s to present day, industrialized nations have seen an increased percentage of married women entering the labor force.  Davis begins by describing the family system that prevailed before the industrial revolution.  In the hunting and gathering regime, women contributed to the majority of nourishment.  From an economic stance, the family was essentially a mother-child unit.  Men were mainly drawn to the family unit in order to fulfill their social needs.   With the rise of domestication of plants and animals, came a structure and a direct division of labor between husband and wife.  Both man and woman were bound to the family unit by household duties.  Davis calls this system a “household economy.”

            With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, came a separation of workplace and home, which led to the demise of the division of labor between husband and wife.  Initially, the wife was expected to remain home as it was anticipated that she would have to many children to be able to partake in work outside the home.  With the decreased mortality rate of children, caring for the home became a full-time job.  Thus, the breadwinner system prevailed.  The dominance of this system in thought and policy arose as it incorporated two facets present in previous household economy: (1) the dominance of the husband; and (2) the devotion of women to children and childcare.  From this was the belief that a mother’s employment outside the home would be harmful to the children. 

            However, the breadwinner system had inherent weaknesses that would lead to its demise.  To begin with, the income of the mother and child came fully from the husband.  Thus the family’s economic well-being relied on an actor who acted mostly outside the family.  Furthermore, being the sole supporter of the entire family was a heavy burden for the man.  Because of these structural weaknesses, this system required heavy normative controls in order to function.  With the ongoing modernization, the same process that gave rise to the breadwinner system, these normative controls were questioned and they eventually collapsed.  Thus, the structural contradictions of the system were exposed, which led to its demise.

            The breadwinner system gave rise to the very trends that would lead to its demise.  One such trend was the declining marital fertility, which meant that woman stopped reproduction sooner.  This cut the family size and so what was once a full-time (taking care of the family), became a part-time one.  Another such phenomenon was the increased life-expectancy.  When women were having their last kid at the age of 40, their life expectancy after marriage was 38 years.  Today, life expetency after marriage I 57.4 years and women are having their last kid at the age of 28.  Women are therefore expected to live for 33 years after their kids leave home.  Finally, there is the trend of an increasing divorce rate.  In the breadwinner system, the family was no longer bound together by a clear division of laor in a common enterprise.  The husband’s work took him outside the home and separated him from family life.  With the uncertainty of marriage and of support from the ex-husband, the wife began supporting herself.  Thus arose the egalitarian system. 

            The egalitarian system also has inherent weaknesses, namely the separation of women from family life, which is incompatible for child rearing.  Davis discusses posits a modified egalitarian system as the answer to this problem.  Such a system would acknowledge a division of labor between husband and wife, while ensuring equal rewards both at home and in the market place so to taper the effects on sex roles. 

            I found this reading to be extremely informative and ell-organized.  I liked how Davis began by discussing the family system pre-industrial revolution.  However, i don’t like how broadly he discussed it.  I am aware that he was writing about the modern phenomenon of women in the workplace.  But it would have created greater depth if he touched more specifically on the social mores of the pre-modern systems. 

            While I was reading the part about the demise of the breadwinner system, I was hoping he would mention the effects of the technological advances.  He went into great depth about the decreasing marital fertility and increased life expectancy as reasons why women had more time on their hands.  I found this very interesting, but I also wonder if the introduction of home appliances—dishwashers, vacuums, washing machines—did not also lead to more leisure time for women. 

            Finally, in the conclusion Davis discusses the possibilities for the evolution of the family system.  He mentions the possibility of technology allowing for the return of the workplace to home.  However, he dismisses this possibility as unlikely.  I would have liked him to explain why it is unlikely.  I believe this possibility is already beginning to become a reality.