Distribution of family roles and role adequacy in young families without children and with a first-born child

the aim of the study was to identify the characteristics of the distribution and role adequacy of family roles in young families without children and after the birth of the first child. The article presents the results of an empirical study of the distribution of family roles and role adequacy in families without children and with a first child, implemented on various Internet platforms dedicated to family life and parenting. The study examined the characteristics of family role distribution and role adequacy (the method "Role Distribution in the Family" by Yu.E. Aleshina, L.Ya. Gozman, E.M. Dubrovskaya, 1987) in young families without children, as well as the types of upbringing (the questionnaire "Types of Child Rearing" by A.I. Barkan, 1999) and the adoption of a parental position in young families with a first-born child (the questionnaire of parental position adoption by E.I. Zakharova, A.I. Strogalina, 2005). The study involved 6 couples (6 men and 6 women) aged 18 to 24 years without children and 24 couples (24 men and 24 women) with a first-born child. During the testing of the hypotheses, it was revealed that young families with a first-born child are characterized by adequate adoption of a parental position and the implementation of positive types of upbringing; Young families without children are also characterized by an adequate distribution of family roles. The clearest distribution of roles and role adequacy is observed in a couple without children with a classic patriarchal distribution of roles; also, no discrepancies in the answers were found in a couple in which the classic "male" roles are realized by the husband, and the "female" roles - jointly. In general, most family functions in modern young families with a first-born child are realized either jointly or by the wife. A low degree of rejection of the components of the parental position in young families with a first-born child is characteristic, as a rule, of both spouses in a couple and is a family tendency. A comparative analysis of the indicators of the type of child rearing between spouses within couples revealed a significant difference on the "increased moral responsibility" scale. This indicator is significantly higher for fathers.

role adequacy, distribution of family roles, marriage, types of child rearing, family functions, parental position, first child, first-born child