ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on changes in the family roles of women-and also of men-and the effects of these changes on the child's socialization experiences. It shows that sex differences do reflect socialization differences and also that the socialization experiences reflect the traditional adult role expectations that girls will be mothers and boys will be breadwinners. The research indicates that although boys and girls are both encouraged to do well in school, some important sex differences in achievement pressures may exist. The general thrust of the evidence, however, is that maternal employment, like the decrease in the proportion of time women spend in mothering, functions to narrow the differences in the socialization experiences of boys and girls and thus can be expected to lead to a decrease in sex differences. The decrease in family size has been attributed to a number of factors. Some of these, the economic recession and the salience of the concern with overpopulation, temporary influences.
