Definition of the word nuclear family

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the concept. For works using that title, see Nuclear Family.

A nuclear family, elementary family, cereal-packet family^[1] or conjugal family is a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically living in one home residence. It is in contrast to a single-parent family, the larger extended family, or a family with more than two parents. Nuclear families typically center on a heterosexual married couple which may have any number of children. There are differences in definition among observers. Some definitions allow only biological children who are full-blood siblings and consider adopted or half and step siblings a part of the immediate family, but others allow for a step-parent and any mix of dependent children, including stepchildren and adopted children. Most sociologists and anthropologists consider the nuclear family as the most basic form of social organization,^{[citation needed]} while others consider the extended family structure to be the most common family structure in most cultures and at most times.^[2]

The term nuclear family was popularized in the 20th century. In the United States, it became the most common form of family structure in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Since that time, the number of North American nuclear families is gradually decreasing, while the number of alternative family formations has increased; this phenomenon is generally opposed by members of such philosophies as social conservatism or familialism, which consider the nuclear family structure important.^{[citation needed]}

History[edit]

DNA extracted from bones and teeth discovered in a 4,600-year-old Stone Age burial site in Germany has provided the earliest evidence for the social recognition of a family consisting of two parents with multiple children.^[3]

Historians Alan Macfarlane and Peter Laslett, among other European researchers, say that nuclear families have been a primary arrangement in England since the 13th century.^[4] This primary arrangement was different from the normal arrangements in Southern Europe, in parts of Asia, and the Middle East where it was common for young adults to remain in or marry into the family home. In England, multi-generational households were uncommon^[when?] because young adults would save enough money to move out, into their own household once they married. Sociologist Brigitte Berger argued, «the young nuclear family had to be flexible and mobile as it searched for opportunity and property. Forced to rely on their own ingenuity, its members also needed to plan for the future and develop bourgeois habits of work and saving.»^[5] Berge also mentions that this could be one of the reasons why the Industrial Revolution began in England and other Northwest European countries. However, the historicity of the nuclear family in England has been challenged by Cord Oestmann.^[6]

Family structures of a married couple and their children were present in Western Europe and New England in the 17th century, influenced by church and theocratic governments.^[7] With the emergence of proto-industrialization and early capitalism, the nuclear family became a financially viable social unit.^[8]

Usage of the term[edit]

The term nuclear family first appeared in the early 20th century. Merriam-Webster dates the term back to 1924,^[9] while the Oxford English Dictionary has a reference to the term from 1925; thus it is relatively new. While the phrase dates approximately from the Atomic Age, the term «nuclear» is not used here in the context of nuclear warfare, nuclear power, nuclear fission or nuclear fusion; rather, it arises from a more general use of the noun nucleus, itself originating in the Latin nux, meaning «nut», i.e. the core of something – thus, the nuclear family refers to all members of the family being part of the same core rather than directly to atomic weapons.

In its most common usage, the term nuclear family refers to a household consisting of a father, a mother and their children^[10] all in one household dwelling.^[9] George Murdock, an observer of families, offered an early description:

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 relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults.^[11]

Many individuals are part of two nuclear families in their lives: the family of origin in which they are offspring, and the family of procreation in which they are a parent.^[12]

Alternative definitions have evolved to include family units headed by same-sex parents^[13] and perhaps additional adult relatives who take on a cohabiting parental role;^[14] in the latter case, it also receives the name of conjugal family.^[13]

Compared with extended family[edit]

An extended group consists of non-nuclear (or «non-immediate») family members considered together with nuclear (or «immediate») family members. When extended family is involved they also influence children’s development just as much as the parents would on their own.^[15] In an extended family resources are usually shared among those involved, adding more of a community aspect to the family unit. This is not limited to the sharing of objects and money, but includes sharing time. For example, extended family such as grandparents can watch over their grandchildren allowing parents to continue and pursue careers and creating a healthy and supportive environment the children to grow up in and allows the parents to have much less stress.^[15] Extended families help keep the kids in the family healthier because of all the resources the kids get now that they have other individuals able to help them and support them as they grow up.^[15]

Changes to family formation[edit]

In 2005, information from the United States Census Bureau showed that 70% of children in the US live in two-parent families,^[16] with 66% of those living with parents who were married, and 60% living with their biological parents. The information also explained that «the figures suggest that the tumultuous shifts in family structure since the late 1960s have leveled off since 1990».^[17]

When considered separately from couples without children, single-parent families, and unmarried couples with children, the United States nuclear families appear to constitute a minority of households – with a rising prevalence of other family arrangements. In 2000, nuclear families with the original biological parents constituted roughly 24.10% of American households, compared with 40.30% in 1970.^[16] Roughly two-thirds of all children in the United States will spend at least some time in a single-parent household.^[18] According to some sociologists, «[The nuclear family] no longer seems adequate to cover the wide diversity of household arrangements we see today.» (Edwards 1991; Stacey 1996). A new term has been introduced^{[by whom?]}, postmodern family, intended to describe the great variability in family forms, including single-parent families and couples without children.»^[16] Nuclear family households are now less common compared to household with couples without children, single-parent families, and unmarried couples with children.^[19]

In the UK, the number of nuclear families fell from 39.0% of all households in 1968 to 28.0% in 1992. The decrease accompanied an equivalent increase in the number of single-parent households and in the number of adults living alone.^[20]

Professor Wolfgang Haak of Adelaide University, detects traces of the nuclear family in prehistoric Central Europe. A 2005 archeological dig in Elau in Germany, analyzed by Haak, revealed genetic evidence suggesting that the 13 individuals found in a grave were closely related. Haak said, «By establishing the genetic links between the two adults and two children buried together in one grave, we have established the presence of the classic nuclear family in a prehistoric context in Central Europe…. Their unity in death suggest[s] a unity in life.»^[21] This paper does not regard the nuclear family as «natural» or as the only model for human family life. «This does not establish the elemental family to be a universal model or the most ancient institution of human communities. For example, polygamous unions are prevalent in ethnographic data and models of household communities have apparently been involving a high degree of complexity from their origins.»^[21]

Lastly, large shifts in the financial landscape for families has made the historically middle class, traditional, nuclear family structure significantly more risky, expensive and unstable. The expenses associated with raising a family; notably housing, medical care and education, have all increased very rapidly, particularly since the 1950s. Since then middle class incomes have stagnated or even declined, whilst living costs have soared to the point where even two-income households are now unable to offer the same level of financial stability that was once possible under the single income nuclear family household of the 1950s.^[22]

Effect on family size[edit]

As a fertility factor, single nuclear family households generally have a higher number of children than co-operative living arrangements according to studies from both the Western world^[23] and India.^[24]

There have been studies done that shows a difference in the number of children wanted per household according to where they live. Families that live in rural areas wanted to have more kids than families in urban areas. A study done in Japan between October 2011 and February 2012 further researched the effect of area of residence on mean desired number of children.^[25] Researchers of the study came to the conclusion that the women living in rural areas with larger families were more likely to want more children, compared to women that lived in urban areas in Japan.

«Traditional» North American family[edit]

For social conservatism in the United States and Canada, the idea that the nuclear family is traditional is a very important aspect, where family is seen as the primary unit of society. These movements oppose alternative family forms and social institutions that are seen by them to undermine parental authority. The numbers of nuclear families is slowly dwindling in the US as more women pursue higher education, develop professional lives, and delay having children until later in their life.^[26] Children and marriage have become less appealing as many women continue to face societal, familial, and/or peer pressure to give up their education and career to focus on stabilizing the home.^[26] As diversity in the United States continues to increase, it is becoming difficult for the traditional nuclear family to stay the norm.^[26] Data from 2014 also suggests that single parents and the likelihood of children living with one is also correlated with race. Pew Research Center has found that 54% of African-American individuals will be single parents compared to only 19% of White individuals.^[26] Several factors account for the differences in family structure including economic and social class. Differences in education level also change the amount of single parents. In 2014, those with less than a high school education are 46% more likely to be a single parent compared to 12% who have graduated from college.^[26]

Critics of the term «traditional family» point out that in most cultures and at most times, the extended family model has been most common, not the nuclear family,^[27] though it has had a longer tradition in England^[28] than in other parts of Europe and Asia which contributed large numbers of immigrants to the Americas. The nuclear family became the most common form in the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s.^[29]

The concept that narrowly defines a nuclear family as central to stability in modern society that has been promoted by familialists who are social conservatives in the United States, and has been challenged as historically and sociologically inadequate to describe the complexity of actual family relations.^[30] In «Freudian Theories of Identification and Their Derivatives» Urie Bronfenbrenner states, «Very little is known about the extent variation in the behavior of fathers and mothers towards sons and daughters, and even less about the possible effects on such differential treatment.» Little is known about how parental behavior and identification processes work, and how children interpret sex role learning. In his theory, he uses «identification» with the father in the sense that the son will follow the sex role provided by his father and then for the father to be able to identify the difference of the «cross sex» parent for his daughter.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• The Nuclear Family from Buzzle.com
• Early Human Kinship was Matrilineal by Chris Knight. (anthropological debates as to whether the nuclear family is natural and universal).

The term nuclear family refers to the family group consisting of parents and children, as opposed to the extended family which includes all those with kinship ties. Throughout history, families have been central to human society, the basic social unit for the expression of love between man and woman and the creation and raising of children. Although the twentieth century saw the decline in strength and numbers of the nuclear family, it has also been noted that there was never an age in history when the ideal family existed. As we move forward into an age in which barriers are broken down and we come to live together as one human family, the essential nature of individual families is key to harmonious human societies. The three-generational family, including grandparents in addition to parents and children, provides the greatest support for the raising of children and continuation of the lineage.

Definition

The term nuclear family was developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents and their children, from what is known as 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]

Margaret Mead, based on her anthropological research, affirmed the centrality of the nuclear family in human society:

As far back as our knowledge takes us, human beings have lived in families. We know of no period where this was not so. We know of no people who have succeeded for long in dissolving the family or displacing it … Again and again, in spite of proposals for change and actual experiments, human societies have reaffirmed their dependence on the family as the basic unit of human living—the family of father, mother and children.^[3]

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 Peter Murdock has also described 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.^[5]

Extended family and nuclear family

Around the world, the structures of family norms are different. Ideas of what constitute a family changes based on culture, mobility, wealth, and tradition. Yet, as James Q. Wilson has stated:

In virtually every society in which historians or anthropologists have inquired, one finds people living together on the basis of kinship ties and having responsibility for raising children. The kinship ties invariably imply restrictions on who has sexual access to whom; the child-care responsibilities invariably imply both economic and non-economic obligations. And in virtually every society, the family is defined by marriage; that is, by a publicly announced contract that makes legitimate the sexual union of a man and a woman.^[6]

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. In these cases, extended family forms. People remain single and live with their parents for a longer period of time. Generally, the trend to shift from extended to nuclear family structures has been supported by increasing mobility and modernization.

Some have argued that the extended family, or at least the three-generational family including grandparents, provides a broader and deeper foundation for raising children as well as support for the new parents. In particular, the role of grandparents has been recognized as an important aspect of the family dynamic. Having experienced the challenges of creating a family themselves, they offer wisdom and encouragement to the young parents and become a reassuring presence in the lives of their grandchildren. Abraham Maslow described the love of grandparents as «the purest love for the being of the other.» ^[7] The benefits of these intergenerational encounters are substantial for all involved.

Contemporary perception

Contemporary society generally views the family as a haven from the world, supplying absolute fulfillment, and encouraging “intimacy, love and trust where individuals may escape the competition of dehumanizing forces in modern society.”^[8] The family is often referred to as a haven providing love and protection from the rough and tumble industrialized world, and as a place where warmth, tenderness and understanding can be expected from a loving mother and protection from the world can be expected from the father. It is important to note that the cohesiveness of the family is contingent upon the relationship of all its members, particularly the father and mother. They establish the bonds each member has to each other, strengthening the nuclear family.

However, the idea of protection is declining as civil society faces less internal conflict combined with increased civil rights and protection from the state. To many, the ideal of personal or family fulfillment has replaced protection as the major role of the family. The family now supplies what is “vitally needed but missing from other social arrangements.”Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

Social conservatives often express concern over a purported decay of the family and see this as a sign of the crumbling of contemporary society. They feel that the family structures of the past were superior to those today and believe that families were more stable and happier at a time when they did not have to contend with problems such as illegitimate children and divorce. Others refute this theory, claiming “there is no golden age of the family gleaming at us in the far back historical past.”Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many

The number of single parent families in society is challenging the idea of the nuclear family. Divorce has given rise to different living arrangements for parents and children. These post-nuclear families have been described as “broken because the marriage bond has been broken.”^[9] Single parent families also form as a result of the death of a spouse in the family. This changes the family dynamic, shifting responsibilities to the remaining spouse and new obligations for the children.

In the United States, however, the nuclear family remains more prominent—73 percent of all households in the 2000 United States Census—than any other alternative.^[10]

Conclusion

A strong nuclear family in these modern times presents each member with peers that they are able to confide in, and a social support network they are able to rely on in times of stress. The rise of single parent households present certain dangers of spending too much time in the work area, away from their children. A strong nuclear family allows everyone to take care of each other.

The nuclear family is important in the development of children. Early morals and ethics are instilled in children at an early age from those closest to them, which begins with their family. A strong, supportive nuclear family is beneficial to the mental and emotional health of children.

The extended family augments the nuclear family in many cultures. They remain an important part of the nuclear family dynamic. They provide support and care to each nuclear family member while not necessarily adopting a position as part of the central nuclear family. In particular, grandparents offer a unique form of support to the family, both to the parents and to the children.

When a newly married couple moves far away from their parents, establishing their own nuclear family, isolation from their extended family may prove stressful. Families in which three generations interact in close harmony provide the greatest support for successfully raising children. Such children are then ready to relate to people of all ages in society, and are substantially connected to traditions and beliefs of their lineage.

Notes

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Maslow, Abraham. Motivation and Personality. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1987. ISBN 0060419873
• Mead, Margaret and Ken Heyman. Family. New York: Macmillan, 1965.
• Murdock, George Peter. Social Structure. New York: Free Press, 1965. ISBN 0029222907
• Whitehead, Barbara Dafoe. The Divorce Culture. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1996. ISBN 0679432302
• Wilson, James Q. The Moral Sense. New York: Free Press, 1997. ISBN 0684833328
• Zinn, Maxine B. and D. Stanley Eitzen. Diversity in American Families. Tuscon, AZ: Good Year Books, 1996. ISBN 067399080X

Definition of Nuclear Family

(noun) A type of family unit that consists of two parents and their child(ren) who live apart from their extended family.

Examples of Nuclear Family

• The Obamas: Barack and Michelle and their children Malia and Sasha.
• The Simpsons: Homer and Marge and their children Bart, Lisa, and Maggie.

Nuclear Family Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: nu·cle·ar fam·i·ly

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈnukliər ˈfæməli/
• British English – /ˈnjuːklɪə ˈfæmɪli/

Usage Notes

• Plural: nuclear families
  
• The definition of a nuclear family varies, some limit the term to only biological (consanguineal) children of a couple while others include stepchildren and adopted children (e.g., blended family).
• An individual can be part of more than one nuclear family. For example, an individual can be a child in a family of orientation and a parent in a family of procreation.
• Nuclear families are created in part due to primogeniture, or the tradition of inheritance going to the oldest male in the family.
• A privatized (privatised) nuclear family (also called isolated nuclear family) coined by Michael Young (1915–2002) and Peter Willmott (1923–2000) in The Symmetrical Family (1973), based on research in England, refers to a nuclear family that is separated from any extended family and thus self-reliant.
• A nuclear family typically resides in a neolocal residence.
• A conjugal family is similar to a nuclear family, but a conjugal family does not require children.
• Also called:
  • elementary family

Related Quotations

• “Families of orientation, procreation, and cohabitation provide us with some of the most important roles we will assume in life. The nuclear family roles (such as parent, child, husband, wife, and sibling) combine with extended family roles (such as grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, and in-law) to form the kinship system” (Strong, Devault, and Cohen 2011:19).
• “In American society, the basic kinship system consists of parents and children, but it may include other relatives as well, especially grandparents. Each person in this system has certain rights and obligations as a result of his or her position in the family structure. Furthermore, a person may occupy several positions at the same time. For example, an 18-year-old woman may simultaneously be a daughter, a sister, a cousin, an aunt, and a granddaughter. Each role entails different rights and obligations. As a daughter, the young woman may have to defer to certain decisions of her parents; as a sister, to share her bedroom; as a cousin, to attend a wedding; and as a granddaughter, to visit her grandparents during the holidays” (Strong, Devault, and Cohen 2011:19).
• “The results suggest that when municipal-led gentrification programs privilege families, they are based on prior beliefs about the economic and social roles that families play in neighborhoods. Thus, we should expect policies that emphasize familification—the process of neighborhood change by families moving in—to be an increasingly common approach in cities where the nuclear family is symbolically significant in the local culture” (Goodsell 2013:862).
• “When male-headed nuclear families are uncritically accepted as normative (by native informants as well as anthropologists, who are usually also native informants), all other kinship patterns are relegated to a lower status as extensions of or exceptions to the rule. Yet, we know that “fictive kinship” and extended matrifocality are crucial to the survival and reproduction of some kinship systems. Among Afro-Americans, for example, friends are often turned into brothers, sisters, aunts, and cousins, a tactic that increases social solidarity under conditions of economic and social fragmentation. And a pattern of “informal matrifocality” is now emerging throughout the American class structure among the rapidly increasing  population of women and children living without males in  their households” (Rapp 2004:124).

Additional Information

• Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “nuclear” and “family” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Harris, C. C. 1984. The Family and Industrial Society. London: G. Allen & Unwin.
• Ware, Lawrence, Moira Maconachie, Malcolm Williams, Joan Chandler, and Brian Dodgeon. 2007. “Gender Life Course Transitions from the Nuclear Family in England and Wales 1981–2001.” Sociological Research Online 12(4):1–12. doi:10.5153/sro.1544.

Related Terms

• extended family
• family
• family life cycle
• family of orientation
• family of procreation
• fictive kin
• individual
• marriage

---

References

Goodsell, Todd L. 2013. “Familification: Family, Neighborhood Change, and Housing Policy.” Housing Studies 28(6):845–68.

Rapp, Rayna. 1987. “Toward a Nuclear Freeze?: The Gender Politics of Euro-American Kinship Analysis,” Pp. 119–31 in Gender and Kinship: Essays toward a Unified Analysis, edited by J. F. Collier, S. J. Yanagisako, and M. Bloch. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Strong, Bryan, Christine DeVault, and Theodore F. Cohen. 2011. The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationships in a Changing Society. 11th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Works Consulted

Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Bilton, Tony, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, and Andrew Webster. 1996. Introductory Sociology. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan.

Brinkerhoff, David, Lynn White, Suzanne Ortega, and Rose Weitz. 2011. Essentials of Sociology. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Brym, Robert J., and John Lie. 2007. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferrante, Joan. 2011. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Kornblum, William. 2008. Sociology in a Changing World. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Macionis, John. 2012. Sociology. 14th ed. Boston: Pearson.

Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.

Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.

Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.

Sullivan, Thomas J. 2016. Introduction to Social Problems. 10th ed. Boston: Pearson.

Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Thorpe, Christopher, Chris Yuill, Mitchell Hobbs, Sarah Tomley, and Marcus Weeks. 2015. The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained. London: Dorling Kindersley.

Tischler, Henry L. 2011. Introduction to Sociology. 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Cite the Definition of Nuclear Family

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “nuclear family.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 13, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/nuclear-family/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

nuclear family. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/nuclear-family/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “nuclear family.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 13, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/nuclear-family/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“nuclear family.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/nuclear-family/>.

A nuclear family or elementary family is a family group consisting of a pair of a woman and a man (adults) and their children (one or more), considering a time after the pair engagement, different than Family-in-law.^[1] It is in contrast to a single-parent family, to the larger extended family, and to a family with more than two parents. Nuclear families typically centre on a married couple;^[1] the nuclear family may have any number of children. There are differences in definition among observers; some definitions allow only biological children that are full-blood siblings,^[2] but others allow for a stepparent and any mix of dependent children including stepchildren and adopted children.^[3][4]

Family structures of one married couple and their children were present in Western Europe and New England in the 17th century, influenced by church and theocratic governments.^[5] With the emergence of proto-industrialization and early capitalism, the nuclear family became a financially viable social unit.^[6] The term nuclear family first appeared in the early twentieth century. Alternative definitions have evolved to include family units headed by same-sex parents^[1] and perhaps additional adult relatives who take on a cohabiting parental role;^[7] in the latter case, it also receives the name of conjugal family.^[1]

The concept that a narrowly defined nuclear family is central to stability in modern society has been promoted by familialists who are social conservatives in the United States, and has been challenged as historically and sociologically inadequate to describe the complexity of actual family relations.^[8]

As a fertility factor, single nuclear family households generally have a higher number of children than co-operative living arrangements according to studies both from the Western world^[9] and India.^[10]

Usage of the term[]

Merriam-Webster dates the term back to 1947,^[11] while the Oxford English Dictionary has a reference to the term from 1925; thus it is relatively new.

In its most common usage, the term nuclear family refers to a household consisting of a father, a mother and their children^[12] all in one household dwelling.^[11] George Murdock, an observer of families, offered an early description:

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.^[13]

Many individuals are part of two nuclear families in their lives: the family of origin in which they are offspring, and the family of procreation in which they are a parent.^[14]

Compared to extended family[]

Main article: Extended family

An extended family group consists of non-nuclear (or «non-immediate») family members considered together with nuclear (or «immediate») family members.

Changes to family formation[]

In 2005, information from the United States Census Bureau showed that 70% of children in the US live in traditional two-parent families,^[15] with 66% of those living with parents who were married, and 60% living with their biological parents, and that «the figures suggest that the tumultuous shifts in family structure since the late 1960s have leveled off since 1990».^[16]

If considered separately from couples without children, single-parent families, and unmarried couples with children, in the United States traditional nuclear families appear to constitute a minority of households — with a rising prevalence of other family arrangements. In 2000, nuclear families with the original biological parents constituted roughly 24.1% of American households, compared to 40.3% in 1970.^[15] Roughly two-thirds of all children in the United States will spend at least some time in a single-parent household.^[17]

In the UK, the number of nuclear families fell from 39% of all households in 1968 to 28% in 1992. The decrease accompanied an equivalent increase in the number of single-parent households and in the number of adults living alone.^[18]

According to some sociologists, «[The nuclear family] no longer seems adequate to cover the wide diversity of household arrangements we see today.» (Edwards 1991; Stacey 1996). A new term has been introduced, postmodern family, intended to describe the great variability in family forms, including single-parent families and couples without children.»^[15]

Professor Wolfgang Haak of Adelaide University, detects traces of the nuclear family in prehistoric Central Europe. A 2005 archeological dig in Elau in Germany, analyzed by Haak, revealed genetic evidence suggesting that the 13 individuals found in a grave were closely related. Haak said, «By establishing the genetic links between the two adults and two children buried together in one grave, we have established the presence of the classic nuclear family in a prehistoric context in Central Europe…. Their unity in death suggest[s] a unity in life.»^[19] This paper does not regard the nuclear family as «natural» or as the only model for human family life. «This does not establish the elemental family to be a universal model or the most ancient institution of human communities. For example, polygamous unions are prevalent in ethnographic data and models of household communities have apparently been involving a high degree of complexity from their origins.»^[19] In this study evidence suggests that the nuclear family was embedded with an extended family. The remains of three children (probably siblings based on DNA evidence) were found buried with a woman who was not their mother but may have been an «aunt or a step-mother».^[20]

North American conservatism[]

Main article: Familialism

For social conservatism in the United States and in Canada, the idea that the nuclear family is traditional is an important aspect, where family is seen as the primary unit of society. These movements oppose alternative family forms and social institutions that are seen by them to undermine parental authority, like day care centers and sex education.^[21]

See also[]

• Astronaut family
• Complex family
• Familialism
• Hajnal line
• Human bonding
• Intentional community
• Hindu joint family
• Kibbutzim and families
• Origins of society
• Sociology of the family
• Structural functionalism
• Family relationships

References[]

External links[]

• The Nuclear Family from Buzzle.com
• Early Human Kinship was Matrilineal by Chris Knight. (Anthropological debates as to whether the nuclear family is natural and universal).

Template:Parenting

Template:Accommodation