For the most part of human civilisation families were always considered as being male dominated or patriarchal, however since the mid 1950\'s and onwards families have slowly become a lot more women orientated. Some sociologists argue that now women have a lot more power in the home and as they become more equal to men in society they also have more power in the marriage and the way the household operates, these sociologists say that modern day families are no longer male dominated as they were last century and before. However other argues that Patriarchal family does exist.
In the 19th century, it was a patriarchal unit, where father/husband was the head of the family. He would often have little involvement in the care of his children and children might see relatively little to their parents and generally children had low status in the family and were expected ‘to be seen and not heard’. However now in 21st century the amount of time parents spend with their children has more than doubled since the 1960s and children’s welfare is seen as the major family priority.
Feminists claim that families are essentially Patriarchal (dominated by men). Several sociologists have looked at how and by whom decisions are made in families. Sociologists such as Stephen Edgell in 1980 carried out a study in which he found that wives dominated decision making in interior decoration, children’s clothes and spending on food. These decisions are seen as frequent and not important whereas men made less frequent decisions but more important such as moving house, buying a care and other major financial decisions. There based on decision making, it appears that men have more power than women. However women generally increased status and greater earning power appears to be affecting the balance of power in relationships. Researched by the Future foundation in 2001 reveals that women are not