Taylor-Gooby (2005) found that public attitudes show a high degree of equality in paid work but not in family life. Which belief persisted?

Taylor-Gooby (2005) found that public attitudes show a high degree of equality in paid work but not in family life. Which belief persisted?

• A. Women should stay at home with children
• B. Women should take main responsibility for childcare
• C. Men should stay at home with children
• D. There is universal agreement on childcare

Answer: (B)

The key idea is about gender roles and where equality persists. Taylor-Gooby showed that public attitudes had become relatively equal about women’s participation in paid work, but not in family life. People still tended to think that childcare is primarily women’s responsibility, even as women work more equally outside the home. That persistent belief—that women should take main responsibility for childcare—reflects a continuing traditional expectation in the domestic sphere, despite progress toward equality in the workforce.

If you think about the other options, they don’t fit the pattern. Believing that men should stay at home would indicate a shift toward men as the main caregivers, which isn’t what the study found. Believing there is universal agreement on childcare would contradict the finding of persistent unequal norms in family life. The idea that women should stay at home with children is a stronger traditional stance than the measured persistence, whereas the study highlights the division of labor in childcare rather than a complete reversal or universal consensus.