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Information about Nuclear Family

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A nuclear family.
The term nuclear family developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents (usually a father and mother) and their children, from what is known as an extended family. Nuclear families can be any size, as long as the family can support itself and there are only parents and children (or the family is an extended family.) According to Merriam-Webster the term dates back to 1947 and is therefore relatively new, although nuclear family structures themselves are not.[1][2] Generally, the trend to shift from extended to nuclear family structures has been supported by the spread of western values. Today roughly one quarter of households in the United States, for example, are described as consisting of nuclear families, making them the third most common household arrangement in the nation.[3]

Varying usages of the term

In its most common usage, the term "nuclear family" refers to a household consisting of a father, a mother and their children (siblings).[4] George Murdock also describes the term in this way:
The family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It contains adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults.


Some also use the term to describe single-parent households and families in which the parents are a "non-conjugal" couple.

Extended family compared to nuclear family

Main article: Extended family


Around the world, the structure of family norms are different. Ideas of what constitute a family changes based on culture, mobility, wealth, and tradition. In many cultures, the need to be self-supporting is hard to meet, particularly where rents/property values are very high, and the foundation of a new household can be an obstacle to nuclear family formation instead of extended family forms (or people remaining single while living longer with their parents).

In India, legislation promoting the nuclear family has been decried as eroding the traditional Hindu joint family. [1]

Changes to family formation

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Family arrangements in the US have become more diverse with no particular households arrangement being prevalent enough to be identified as the average.[3]
Sociology studies families and their formation, attempting to detail the difference between families. The numerical decline of the nuclear family is highlighted by:
  • Increase in sole occupancy dwellings and smaller family sizes
  • Average age of marriage being older
  • Average number of children decreasing and first birth at later age
  • The historical pattern of fertility. From baby boom to baby bust (instability)
  • The aging population. The trend towards greater life expectancy.
  • Rising divorce rates and people who will never marry.[6]
In The United States nuclear families now constitute a minority of households with rising prevalence of other family arrangement such as blended families, binuclear families, single-parent families. Today nuclear families constitute roughly 24.1% of households, compared to 40.3% in 1970.[3] Roughly 75% of all children in the United States will spend at least some time in a single-parent household.

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See also

External links

References

1. ^ Grief, Avner (2005). "Family Structure, Institutions, and Growth: The Origin and Implications of Western Corporatism"
2. ^ Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (2006). "Types of marriages in the Bible, and today"
3. ^ Williams, Brian; Stacey C. Sawyer, Carl M. Wahlstrom (2005). Marriages, Families & Intimate Relationships. Boston, MA: Pearson. ISBN 0-205-36674-0. 
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Online. ../ "Definition of nuclear family"
5. ^ Williams, Brian; Stacey C. Sawyer, Carl M. Wahlstrom (2005). Marriages, Families & Intimate Relationships. Boston, MA: Pearson. 0-205-36674-0. 
6. ^ Ibid., Bittman (1997)
7. ^ Williams, Brian; Stacey C. Sawyer, Carl M. Wahlstrom (2005). Marriages, Families & Intimate Relationships. Boston, MA: Pearson. 0-205-36674-0. 
Western world, the West or the Occident (Latin occidens -sunset, -west, as distinct from the Orient) [1] can have multiple meanings dependent on its context (e.g., the time period, or the social situation).
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worldwide view of the subject.
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Family is a Western term used to have denote a domestic group of people, or a number of domestic groups linked through descent (demonstrated or stipulated)
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father is defined as the male parent of an offspring.

According to anthropologist Maurice Godelier, a critical novelty in human society, compared to humans closest biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobos), is the parental role assumed by the males, which were unaware
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Extended family (or joint family) is a term with several distinct meanings. First, it is used synonymously with consanguineous family. Second, in societies dominated by the conjugal family, it is used to refer to kindred who does not belong to the conjugal family.
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Extended family (or joint family) is a term with several distinct meanings. First, it is used synonymously with consanguineous family. Second, in societies dominated by the conjugal family, it is used to refer to kindred who does not belong to the conjugal family.
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Merriam-Webster, originally known as the G. & C. Merriam Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, is a United States company that publishes reference books, especially dictionaries that are descendants of Noah Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1910s  1920s  1930s  - 1940s -  1950s  1960s  1970s
1944 1945 1946 - 1947 - 1948 1949 1950

Year 1947 (MCMXLVII
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father is defined as the male parent of an offspring.

According to anthropologist Maurice Godelier, a critical novelty in human society, compared to humans closest biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobos), is the parental role assumed by the males, which were unaware
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child (plural: children) is primarily a boy or girl who has not reached puberty.[1][2] However, some youth reach puberty earlier or later than expected.
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George Peter Murdock (May 11, 1897 - March 29, 1985) was a notable anthropologist. Born in Meriden, Connecticut to a family that had farmed there for five generations, he spent many childhood hours working on the family farm, and acquired a wide knowledge of traditional,
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Extended family (or joint family) is a term with several distinct meanings. First, it is used synonymously with consanguineous family. Second, in societies dominated by the conjugal family, it is used to refer to kindred who does not belong to the conjugal family.
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A Hindu Joint Family or Hindu united family (HUF) or a Joint Hindu Family is an extended family arrangement prevalent among Hindus of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of many generations living under the same roof.
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Complex Family is a generic term for any family structure involving more than two adults. The term can refer to any extended family or to a polygamy of any type. It is often used to refer to the group marriage form of polygamy.
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Extended family (or joint family) is a term with several distinct meanings. First, it is used synonymously with consanguineous family. Second, in societies dominated by the conjugal family, it is used to refer to kindred who does not belong to the conjugal family.
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The term human bond -- or, more generally, human bonding -- refers to the process or formation of a close personal relationship, as between a parent and child, especially through frequent or constant association.
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An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to promote a much higher degree of social interaction than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political or spiritual vision.
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