ABSTRACT
Government policy since 1959, at least at the level of principle, has clearly asserted that community care is the most desirable form of care for the majority of severely mentally handicapped people. This chapter focuses on marital roles and the domestic division of labour. Where family and external resources were inadequate, an additional objective was to assess the need for additional support with the daily routines. Although the modern nuclear family is smaller, and older children are therefore less likely to have younger siblings, their participation in housework may be very important. The specific point of departure for most of the discussion on the question of the relevance of kinship networks to the modern nuclear family was an essay by Parsons on the kinship system of the United States. The definition of need presents a central problem for the health and social services.
