Cambridge A-Level Sociology: Age and Family Life — Practice Questions (9699)

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs — Cambridge International holds copyright in its own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available through your school or Cambridge directly.

Related: The Family revision notes

These questions cover section 4.2 Age and family life of the Cambridge International AS & A Level Sociology (9699) syllabus for 2024–2026: the social construction of childhood and the changing position of children; the role of grandparents, including cross-cultural comparison and rising life expectancy; how class, gender and ethnicity affect children’s experiences; and changing ideas of motherhood and fatherhood. Question types follow the Paper 2 pattern the syllabus describes.

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Questions

1. What is meant by the social construction of childhood? Give one example. [4]

2. Explain two ways in which the role of grandparents in the family may be changing. [6]

3. Explain two ways in which social class may affect the experiences of children in the family. [6]

4. “Childhood today is a time of greater protection and happiness than ever before.”

• (a) Explain the view expressed in the quotation. [6]
• (b) Using sociological material, give two arguments against the view expressed in the quotation. [10]

5. “The concepts of motherhood and fatherhood have changed a great deal in modern societies.” Evaluate this view. [26]

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Answers and mark guidance

1. Social construction of childhood [4]

• Meaning (2 marks): childhood is not a fixed biological stage; what it means to be a child, how long childhood lasts and how children are treated are defined by society and vary between cultures and over time.
• Example (2 marks): Philippe Ariès (Centuries of Childhood, English edition 1962) argued that in medieval Europe children were treated as “little adults” once past infancy; or the contrast between societies where children work from an early age and those where they are legally kept in full-time education. One mark for a bare example, two for an explained one.

2. Changing role of grandparents [6]

Up to 3 marks per explanation.

• Rising life expectancy: more people live long enough to be grandparents and even great-grandparents, producing the vertically extended beanpole family described by Julia Brannen (2003).
• Childcare: with more mothers in paid work, grandparents often provide informal, unpaid childcare, giving them a renewed practical role.
• Financial support: older people may transfer money, housing or inheritance to younger generations.
• Cross-cultural difference: in many South and East Asian societies grandparents traditionally live with married sons and hold authority; migration and urbanisation may be weakening this.
• Dependency: some grandparents become dependent, creating a “sandwich” or pivot generation of adults caring for both children and parents.

3. Social class and children’s experiences [6]

Up to 3 marks per way.

• Parenting style: Annette Lareau’s Unequal Childhoods (2003) found middle-class parents in the USA practising “concerted cultivation” (organised activities, negotiation with adults) while working-class and poor families relied more on “natural growth”, with consequences for confidence in school.
• Material resources: income affects housing, diet, space to study and access to digital devices.
• Child labour and responsibility: in poorer households children may care for siblings or earn money, shortening childhood.
• Cultural capital: middle-class children gain knowledge and tastes valued by schools.

4(a). Explaining the view [6]

Credit explanation of the march of progress view:

• Children are now protected by laws on child labour, compulsory schooling and child protection.
• Lower infant mortality and smaller families mean parents invest more emotionally and financially in each child — the family has become child-centred.
• Children have rights (for example under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989) and more say in family decisions.

4(b). Arguing against the view [10]

Up to 5 marks per argument.

• Disappearance or erosion of childhood: Neil Postman (The Disappearance of Childhood, 1982) argued that television gave children access to adult information, blurring the boundary between childhood and adulthood. Sue Palmer (Toxic Childhood, 2006) blamed technology, marketing and long working hours for harming children’s development.
• Conflict views of control: protection is also control; children’s time, space and bodies are regulated by adults (age patriarchy), so more protection need not mean more happiness.
• Global inequality: many children worldwide still experience poverty, child labour, early marriage or conflict, so the view generalises from wealthy societies.
• Inequality within societies: class, gender and ethnicity produce very different childhoods.

5. Essay: changing motherhood and fatherhood [26]

Indicative content (AO1):

• Evidence of change: women’s rising employment has challenged the idea of the full-time mother; fathers spend more time on childcare than in earlier generations; the idea of the “new man” and involved father; Esther Dermott’s Intimate Fatherhood (2008) argues fatherhood is increasingly defined by emotional closeness rather than breadwinning; lone parenthood and reconstituted families diversify parenting roles.
• Evidence of continuity: mothers still do most childcare and emotional work; many fathers “help” rather than share responsibility; Ann Oakley’s research (The Sociology of Housework, 1974) showed housework and childcare as women’s work, and feminists argue much has stayed the same; intensive mothering ideals may have increased pressure on mothers.

Application (AO2): compare societies, for example different paternity leave policies or the influence of extended families on parenting; apply concepts such as dual burden, emotion work and the symmetrical family.

Analysis and evaluation (AO3):

• Distinguish ideals (what people say parenting should be) from practices (who actually does the work).
• Note that change varies by class, ethnicity and country.
• Conclude with a judgement, for example that the concepts have changed more than the division of labour.

Level guidance: top-band answers combine accurate evidence on both mothers and fathers with sustained evaluation; middle-band answers describe change without weighing it; low-band answers rely on common-sense assertion.

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Frequently asked questions

Which studies are most useful for 4.2? Ariès and Postman for childhood, Brannen for grandparents and beanpole families, Lareau for class differences, and Dermott and Oakley for parenting roles.

Do I need cross-cultural examples? Yes. The syllabus explicitly asks for cross-cultural comparison of grandparents’ roles, and comparative examples strengthen childhood answers too.

Is “child-centred” the same as “children have power”? No. Child-centred families invest more in children, but adults may still control them closely.

Related pages: The Family study guide | The Family practice questions