The Sociology of Women's Economic Role in the Family

Abstract

This paper examines Parsons' argument that wives' socioeconomic contributions to their families are, of necessity, minor in our society and that to the extent a wife does work, family stability requires that it be at a lower occupational level than her husband's. A reassessment of the theoretical considerations involved indicates that Parsons' preoccupation with the potentiality for status competition and conflict between working spouses has led to a distorted view of the problem of status consistency within the family. The argument presented here is that, if the wife is to work, it is important that her occupation reflect favorably on the family's socioeconomic position and this need for status maintenance, if not improvement, offsets the presumed needfor her occupation not to be status threatening. In addition, it is suggested that Parsons overestimated the amount of disruptive competition which would necessarily occur if both the husband and wife worked. Some empirical evidence is presented to support this alternative view of women's socioeconomic role in the family.