Chapter 3: Will boys be left on the shelf?

This chapter examines the impact of the loss of young men's monopoly of the breadwinner role on the family-related attitudes of young women and men, in the light of the increased economic activity of mothers, wives and single women in Great Britain. Drawing on a number of small-scale British studies, based on the oral testimonies of adolescent young women and men undertaken in the 1980s, the author considered the effect of economic changes on the attitudes of young men and what effect they have had on young women's attitudes and aspirations as well. The trend in increasing female employment reflects a single process of economic change. This changing pattern of employment among young working-class women and men have had profound effects on heterosexual and marital relationships. Work opportunities for young women have increased and are consequently changing their expectations of the future roles both of themselves and of men in the family. Although ethnic and class differences are important, there has been a shift in many young women's school achievement and self-confidence, and their prospects of work have expanded. This appears to be leading many to demand a form of partnership with young men, in which they are no longer prepared to take a subservient role and are less prepared to put up with unsatisfactory and sometimes violent, relationships.