Patriarchal Structures and Ethnicity in the Italian Community in Britain by Azadeh Medaglia

Author:Azadeh Medaglia [Medaglia, Azadeh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781351777636
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2019-07-16T00:00:00+00:00

Household

Over the years, there have been significant changes in the household composition and the domestic division of labour in Britain. There are differences with Italian households: in 1994, in Britain, 56% of the women were married (Social Focus on Women, p. 10). The Divorce Reform Act which came into force in 1971 has contributed significantly to the rates of divorce in the UK. In a 1994 European Union comparison, United Kingdom had the highest divorce rates, and Catholic Ireland and Italy, the lowest. In 1995, in England and Wales, the overall rate of divorce for the female population was 13.1 per 1,000 married couple (Social Trends, 1997, p. 46–48). In 1992–93, 18% of dependent children lived in a lone mother family (Social Focus on Women, p. 18). The overwhelming majority of the women in the survey are married and have children (85% and 75% respectively). Unmarried mothers are not looked favourably upon in the Italian Community (Figure 5.19) and most Italian households are headed by males. The majority of Italian women are religious (Figure 5.9); in the Roman Catholic Church, divorce is prohibited and consequently most have never been divorced (Figure 5.14).

In British society, some productive work previously done under relations of patriarchy, is now being carried out under capitalist relations of production or by the State: commercial household gadgets such as washing machines, dish-washers, microwaves, convenience foods, pre-cooked meals, state-run crèches and homes for the elderly have reduced some of the burden of housework on women (Gershuny et al., 1994). However, it is debatable whether Italian women do less housework nowadays. They are still likely to prepare elaborate dishes for their family instead of using convenience food and to personally take care of their elderly parents and relatives instead of confining them to state-run homes.

Figure 4.9 Percentage of household chores performed by men

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