The term nuclear family developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents, most commonly a father and mother, and their children, from what is known as an extended family. The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings Family denotes a group of People affiliated by consanguinity affinity or co-residence The father is defined as the Male Parent of an offspring The Adjective "paternal" refers to father parallel to "maternal" for "Mom" "Mum" and "Mommy" redirect here Extended family (or Joint family) is a term with several distinct meanings 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. Extended family (or Joint family) is a term with several distinct meanings ) According to Merriam-Webster the term dates back to 1947 and is therefore relatively new, although nuclear family structures themselves date back thousands of years. Merriam-Webster, which was originally the G & C Merriam Company of Springfield Massachusetts, is an American company that publishes reference books Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [1][2] The term "nuclear" was used because of its original Latin meaning, "kernal" or "nut". [3] 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 that nation. [4]
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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 all in one household (siblings). The father is defined as the Male Parent of an offspring The Adjective "paternal" refers to father parallel to "maternal" for "Mom" "Mum" and "Mommy" redirect here CHILD syndrome (or congenital hemidysplasia with ichthyosiform erythroderma and limb defects) is a genetic disorder [5] George Murdock also describes the term in this way:
- The family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. For the first mayor of Calgary Alberta see George Murdoch. For the American actor see George Murdock (actor. 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 an unmarried couple.
Extended family compared to nuclear family
Legislation promoting the nuclear family has been decried as eroding the traditional Hindu joint family. Extended family (or Joint family) is a term with several distinct meanings A Hindu Joint Family or Hindu undivided family (HUF or a Joint Hindu Family is an Extended family arrangement prevalent among Hindus of the Hindu joint families consist of many people including the father, mother, children, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Changes to family formation
Current information from United States Census Bureau shows that 70% of children in the US live in traditional two-parent families, with 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. The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title) is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census ". [6]
Some sociologists studying families and their formation, attempting to detail the changes in families, say some causes of the observed numerical decline of the nuclear family may be:
- 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. [7]
In the United States traditional nuclear families now appear to constitute a minority of households with rising prevalence of other family arrangement such as blended families, binuclear families (separated spouses marrying new spouses with children), and single-parent families. Today nuclear families with the original biological parents constitute roughly 24. 1% of households, compared to 40. 3% in 1970. [4] Roughly 75%(or percent) of all children in the United States will spend at least some time in a single-parent household.
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"The nuclear family. . . is the idealized version of what most people think when they think of "family. . . " The old definition of what a family is. . . the nuclear family- no longer seems adequate to cover the wide diversity of household arrangements we see today, according to many social scientists (Edwards 1991; Stacey 1996). Thus has arisen the term postmodern family, which is meant to describe the great variablity in family forms, including single-parent families and child-free couples. "- Brian K. Williams, Stacey C. Sawyer, Carl M. Wahlstrom, Marriages, Families & Intimate Relationships, 2005. [4] |
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See also
References
- ^ Grief, Avner (2005). Complex Family is a generic term for any family structure involving more than two adults Extended family (or Joint family) is a term with several distinct meanings Human bonding refers to the development of a close Interpersonal relationship between family members or friends An intentional community is a planned Residential community designed to have a much higher degree of Teamwork than other communities A kibbutz ( Hebrew: קיבוץ קִבּוּץ lit "gathering clustering" plural kibbutzim) is a collective community in "Family Structure, Institutions, and Growth: The Origin and Implications of Western Corporatism"
- ^ Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (2006). "Types of marriages in the Bible, and today"
- ^ Harper, Douglas (2001). "Online Etymology Dictionary"
- ^ a b c d Williams, Brian; Stacey C. Sawyer, Carl M. Wahlstrom (2005). Marriages, Families & Intimate Relationships. Boston, MA: Pearson. ISBN 0-205-36674-0.
- ^ Merriam-Webster Online. . . / "Definition of nuclear family"
- ^ Roberts, Sam. "Most Children Still Live in Two-Parent Homes, Census Bureau Reports", February 25, 2008. Events 138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Retrieved on 2008-03-05. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a
- ^ Ibid. , Bittman (1997)
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