Peter Willmott

First published in 1973, The Symmetrical Family combines evidence about the family of the past with information from a sociological survey in the London region and uses both as the basis for a speculative discussion about the future. The argument is that a new style of family life has emerged. Its basis is not equality between husbands and wives but at least something approaching symmetry: increasingly wives work outside the home and husbands inside it. The new family is itself under increasing pressure. Contrary to the popular view, there is yet no sign of a general increase in leisure. In some occupations work is dominant and becoming more so; at the same time the proportions of people in such jobs, though still in the minority, are expanding. The growing demand of wives for paid work outside the home means that in place of two jobs, one for the husband and one for the wife, there will often be four, with both working inside as well as outside the home. How long will people be able to bear the consequent strain? In a final chapter the authors discuss what they think will happen unless people decide quite deliberately, to reduce the pressure upon themselves and their children. This book will be of interest to students of sociology, health, social care, anthropology and public policy.

In earlier studies, Peter Willmott and other investigators had documented the social problems of new housing estates – the loneliness, the tensions, the disruption of family and neighbourhood ties. But how far are such troubles transitory? What kind of life would develop in communities like these when time had rubbed off the newness? Originally published in 1963, in search of an answer, Peter Willmott went to Dagenham in Essex, where forty years before the London County Council began to build a giant estate to rehouse people from the East End of London. His study – of a new estate that had now become an old one – throws light on the long-term effects of this kind of migration. He found at Dagenham, most strikingly, that a way of life very similar to a ‘traditional’ working-class community had grown up. In this book he discusses the similarities and differences, and shows the influences which had worked for and against this development. After a sketch of the estate’s history, he traces the relationships of the people of Dagenham with relatives, friends and neighbours, and then examines their attitudes to each other, to politics and to social class. His conclusions were not only relevant to housing and town planning policy, but provided insight into the meaning of social class in contemporary Britain at the time.

Originally published in 1960, the authors of Family and Kinship in East London then made an intensive study of a middle-class dormitory suburb. Here families were more often on their own than in the East End, but, despite the differences between the districts, there were some similarities. The bond between mother and married daughter was almost as strong in the suburb as in the city. Most old people, too, were cared for in both places by their children and other relatives, though the authors show how serious were the special problems of the aged in this suburban setting. The enquiry examined the influence of social class upon community life. This is reviewed in relation to club and church membership and to friendship patterns, and the behaviour of middle and working-class people to each other is discussed. Class tensions, and their effect on the otherwise friendly and neighbourly atmosphere that the authors found in the suburb, provide the main theme of the final chapters.

Originally published in 1966, this is a sociological study of boys growing up in East London. Previous books from the Institute of Community Studies had looked at the lives of other residents of Bethnal Green – couples with young children, middle-aged ‘Mums’, old people, widows. Now the subject is adolescent boys – a study of them not in isolation nor primarily as a ‘problem’ group but as young people moving between childhood and adulthood in the setting of a particular local community. What is it like to grow up in a district like Bethnal Green? How do the boys adjust to the process? What part is played by school, work, youth club, family? What are the boys’ relationships with their fellows and with girls? Where does delinquency fit in? To help answer such questions, a sample of 246 boys aged 14 to 20 were interviewed. The statistical analysis of this survey has been supplemented by illustrative material from diaries, tape-recorded interviews, and informal observation. The outcome is a vivid account, much of it in the boys’ own words, which was rather different from some popular views of contemporary adolescence at the time. Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

First published in 1973, The Symmetrical Family combines evidence about the family of the past with information from a sociological survey in the London region and uses both as the basis for a speculative discussion about the future. The argument is that a new style of family life has emerged. Its basis is not equality between husbands and wives but at least something approaching symmetry: increasingly wives work outside the home and husbands inside it. The new family is itself under increasing pressure. Contrary to the popular view, there is yet no sign of a general increase in leisure. In some occupations work is dominant and becoming more so; at the same time the proportions of people in such jobs, though still in the minority, are expanding. The growing demand of wives for paid work outside the home means that in place of two jobs, one for the husband and one for the wife, there will often be four, with both working inside as well as outside the home. How long will people be able to bear the consequent strain? In a final chapter the authors discuss what they think will happen unless people decide quite deliberately, to reduce the pressure upon themselves and their children. This book will be of interest to students of sociology, health, social care, anthropology and public policy.

Originally published in 1960, the authors of Family and Kinship in East London then made an intensive study of a middle-class dormitory suburb. Here families were more often on their own than in the East End, but, despite the differences between the districts, there were some similarities. The bond between mother and married daughter was almost as strong in the suburb as in the city. Most old people, too, were cared for in both places by their children and other relatives, though the authors show how serious were the special problems of the aged in this suburban setting. The enquiry examined the influence of social class upon community life. This is reviewed in relation to club and church membership and to friendship patterns, and the behaviour of middle and working-class people to each other is discussed. Class tensions, and their effect on the otherwise friendly and neighbourly atmosphere that the authors found in the suburb, provide the main theme of the final chapters.

In earlier studies, Peter Willmott and other investigators had documented the social problems of new housing estates – the loneliness, the tensions, the disruption of family and neighbourhood ties. But how far are such troubles transitory? What kind of life would develop in communities like these when time had rubbed off the newness? Originally published in 1963, in search of an answer, Peter Willmott went to Dagenham in Essex, where forty years before the London County Council began to build a giant estate to rehouse people from the East End of London. His study – of a new estate that had now become an old one – throws light on the long-term effects of this kind of migration. He found at Dagenham, most strikingly, that a way of life very similar to a ‘traditional’ working-class community had grown up. In this book he discusses the similarities and differences, and shows the influences which had worked for and against this development. After a sketch of the estate’s history, he traces the relationships of the people of Dagenham with relatives, friends and neighbours, and then examines their attitudes to each other, to politics and to social class. His conclusions were not only relevant to housing and town planning policy, but provided insight into the meaning of social class in contemporary Britain at the time.

Originally published in 1966, this is a sociological study of boys growing up in East London. Previous books from the Institute of Community Studies had looked at the lives of other residents of Bethnal Green – couples with young children, middle-aged ‘Mums’, old people, widows. Now the subject is adolescent boys – a study of them not in isolation nor primarily as a ‘problem’ group but as young people moving between childhood and adulthood in the setting of a particular local community. What is it like to grow up in a district like Bethnal Green? How do the boys adjust to the process? What part is played by school, work, youth club, family? What are the boys’ relationships with their fellows and with girls? Where does delinquency fit in? To help answer such questions, a sample of 246 boys aged 14 to 20 were interviewed. The statistical analysis of this survey has been supplemented by illustrative material from diaries, tape-recorded interviews, and informal observation. The outcome is a vivid account, much of it in the boys’ own words, which was rather different from some popular views of contemporary adolescence at the time. Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

Both the great cities studied in this book are renowned for their imposing streets and buildings, their cultural and political vitality and their cosmopolitan lifestyles, but just outside their centres are neighbourhoods where ordinairy people have their homes, often living in poverty and sometimes in squalor. Two such neighbourhoods were Stockwell in London and Folie-Mericourt in Paris, and are the tale of this 'tale of two cities' told by social researchers. The local studies are set in their broader metropolitan and national contexts, including an examination of changes over time in income patterns in France and Britain and in housing policies in the metropolitan regions. This illuminates the effects of different social policies adopted by Britain and France, Paris and London, to help poor and disadvantaged families. This book was first published in 1981.

Although housing in Bethnal Green was often appalling, a complex network of relatives - families of three generations held together by the powerful mother-daughter bond at the centre - was always available to provide mutual aid and a sense of community. It was when families were rehoused in the immaculate new estates outside London, miles away from their kin, that the vital support system broke down, with disastrous effects on the quality of people's lives. This famous book, based on a major three-year research project, makes clear how planners have frequently failed to understand real human needs; it also provides a marvellous portrait of the resilience and generosity of spirit which went at least some way to compensate for the deptivations of inner-city working-class life.

Both the great cities studied in this book are renowned for their imposing streets and buildings, their cultural and political vitality and their cosmopolitan lifestyles, but just outside their centres are neighbourhoods where ordinairy people have their homes, often living in poverty and sometimes in squalor. Two such neighbourhoods were Stockwell in London and Folie-Mericourt in Paris, and are the tale of this 'tale of two cities' told by social researchers. The local studies are set in their broader metropolitan and national contexts, including an examination of changes over time in income patterns in France and Britain and in housing policies in the metropolitan regions. This illuminates the effects of different social policies adopted by Britain and France, Paris and London, to help poor and disadvantaged families. This book was first published in 1981.

One of the pioneering works of modern sociology, "Family and Kinship in East London" is a study of family life in the East End of London in the 1950s, based on extensive interviews and case studies, which examines the consequences of moving families from urban to suburban public housing. The book was first published in 1954, updated in 1989, and is here presented with a new foreword by Judith Stacey.

An anthropological study that compares a central London neighborhood with a London suburb in terms of family and community life, mobility, social status, and social interaction. The main sources of the authors' information were sample interviews from the two populaces. The main themes of this book are the differences between the London suburb and the East End, and the differences between the middle and working-class residents.