Updated with more commonly confused words! Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Since the end of World War II, the "ideal" nuclear family consisting of a white father, mother and their two biological kids has been perpetuated in media. You would have a father, mother, and … Up above, we talked about how the meaning of the term has changed over the years. The nuclear family was the dominant arrangement in England stretching back to the thirteenth century. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples Nuclear family definition: A nuclear family is a family unit that consists of father , mother , and children. The Oxford English Dictionary cites Bronisław Malinowski, considered a founder of social anthropology, as the coiner of the term. The nuclear family refers to a family with constant meltdowns typical Western family consisting of a father figure and a mother figure (of the male and female genders, respectively) and a couple of little kids (at least 2) running around. 2021. With several varied changes, it has been and stays the norm in established Western cultures. Learn a new word every day. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... At present the dominant form of the family group consists of two spouses and the children they have produced or adopted. Corrections? Updates? It's a bird? See the full definition for nuclear family in the English Language Learners Dictionary, More from Merriam-Webster on nuclear family, Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for nuclear family, Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about nuclear family. In a more mobile, post-industrial revolution society, there was a greater emphasis on the nuclear family. Definition of nuclear family : a family group that consists only of parents and children Examples of nuclear family in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web But Fox apparently has faith in its nuclear family. nuclear family a family consisting of a two-generation relationship of parents and children, living together and more or less isolated from their extended family. But by the second half of the twentieth century, one by one these assumptions were overturned. Examples of Nuclear Family The Obamas: Barack and … Omissions? Conflict is a part of life, and conflict resolution skills are beneficial in school, in the community and in the workplace. The Rise of the Nuclear Family . within the family and the support that the family receives, rather than family form, whether it is nuclear, whether the parents are married to each other, or the number of parents (Golombok 2015). Definition of Nuclear Family (noun) Two parents and their child (ren) living apart from their extended family. First to go was the alleged prevalence of the extended family. See more. As mentioned above, a nuclear family is made up of two parents and their children. Meaning and Definition of a Nuclear Family  A nuclear familyis defined as a family that comprises of the father, mother, and children. Nuclear family, also called elementary family, in sociology and anthropology, a group of people who are united by ties of partnership and parenthood and consisting of a pair of adults and their socially recognized children. This is the most basic understanding of the nuclear family model. The law, therefore,... Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Rules regarding lineage exogamy, or out-marriage, are common in these groups; within a given community, marriages thus create cross-cutting social and political ties between lineages. Nuclear families can begin to develop like-minded thinking, which will lead to fewer arguments within nuclear family - a family consisting of parents and their children and grandparents of a marital partner conjugal family family , household , menage , home , house - a social unit living together; "he moved his family to Virginia"; "It was a good Christian household"; "I waited until the whole house was asleep"; "the teacher asked how many people made up his home" Although such couples are most often a man and a woman, the definition of the nuclear family has expanded with the advent of same-sex marriage. What made you want to look up nuclear family? A family could be nuclear or extended, an extended familyconsists of many nuclear families, grandparents and other blood relatives such as the cousins, uncles, aunts, nephew, and niece. Nuclear families are small, since they only integrate the closest relatives. But that image is outdated and no longer reflects modern society, said Cassandra Cotton, an assistant professor in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics. Origin of 'Nuclear Family' Nuclear family dates to the 1920s, when the academic fields of anthropology and sociology were both still young. (Definition of nuclear family from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University … nuclear dyad family a … Soon after marriage, the children leave their parental home and establish their separate household. The general definition of a nuclear family is two parents and their children. A nuclear family is limited, according to Kristy Jackson of Colorado State University, to one or two parents (e.g. Hence a nuclear family is an autonomous unit free from the control of the elders. Delivered to your inbox! Sociologists see the concept of a nuclear family as a fundamental building block of society. In matrilineal societies, for example, a child may be the responsibility not of his biological genitor but of his mother’s brother, who fulfills the roles typical of Western fatherhood. a father and mother) and their own child, or children, living together in a single house or other dwelling. The nuclear family is not a “Western-prescribed requirement,” or no more than a “bourgeois institution.” Anthropologists have long documented a wide array of kinship and social patterns of organization: matrilineal clans, patrilineal clans, moieties, phratries, milk relations, fictive kinship, etc. The law, therefore, is concerned mainly with the rights of the couple and their children and the duties of the couple to…, The nuclear family—that is, a pair of cohabiting adults and their unmarried children—formed the lowest level of organization. Typically, but not always, the adults in a nuclear family are married. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. There has always been debate about who gets included in the nuclear family. It's a plane? Children are included only while they’re young enough to live with their parents. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the term \"nuclear family\" was first used in 1947, but the concept of a family that consists of just parents and children is much older. Accessed 21 Mar. In short and simple words, we can say that nuclear family is that type of group, that includes the least amount of family members in the family. Nuclear families may have one or more children who are biological or adopted, but the main idea is that the parents are raising their kids together in the family home. The typical family depicted on television commercials which depict a happy, loving, tight family enjoying whatever item that the commercial is depicting. Nuclear family. Find more similar words at wordhippo.com! The phrase "nuclear family" became commonly known during the first half of the 20 th century. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Nuclear Family Nuclear families, also known as elementary or traditional families, consist of two parents (usually married or common law) and their children. Nuclear family, also called elementary family, in sociology and anthropology, a group of people who are united by ties of partnership and parenthood and consisting of a pair of adults and their socially recognized children. The consanguineal family, on the other hand, typically groups itself around a unilineal descent group known as a lineage, a form that reckons kinship through either the father’s or the mother’s line but not both. However, the family ideal of any particular culture does not necessarily describe the social realities of family life. nuclear family, it also puts the family at a disadvantage. Nuclear family is used interchangeably with elementary family. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/nuclear-family, Family Studies - The Real Roots of the Nuclear Family, The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family - Nuclear Family Emotional Process. 'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'. This basic unit of a family's structure has existed for millennia, but it wasn't until the 1960s and 1970s that the nuclear family became the majority situation. a social unit of two parents and their children: We average fewer than two children per nuclear family. The stability of the conjugal family depends on the quality of the marriage of the husband and wife, a relationship that is more emphasized in the kinds of industrialized, highly mobile societies that frequently demand that people reside away from their kin groups. Sadly, this is not the way that most real life families act. The nuclear family is a symbol deeply rooted in Western culture; it is represented in art, family photographs, advertising, and television. Send us feedback. Finally, contrary to the extended family, the nuclear family is more common among urban dwellers; hence it is so common in Europe and the United States. “Nuclear family.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nuclear%20family. Or in other words, it is a small family, that includes mother father and their kids. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. It generally includes, mother, father, son and/ or daughter. Nuclear family definition, a social unit composed of two parents and one or more children. The nuclear family functioned in procreation, education of children, and as a unit of food preparation and consumption, with a well-defined division of labour between husband and wife.…, …way to the small, two-generation nuclear family of parents and dependent children only. family, nuclear The term nuclear family is used to refer to a unit consisting of spouses and their dependent children. Residents, the health department said, should avoid social gatherings that include individuals outside the, The more ancient communal, multigenerational living situation contrasts with the stereotypical American, The safest way to celebrate the holiday is to confine gatherings to, While Thanksgiving was always the boisterous gathering with extended family, Christmas was the quieter, intimate time with our, These stories both satisfy a base appetite for the odd and serve as a projection of Western anxieties about the dissolution of the, Post the Definition of nuclear family to Facebook, Share the Definition of nuclear family on Twitter, Remembering How It Was in the 'Before Times'. The main difference between nuclear family and joint family is that a nuclear family is a small family unit consisting only the parents and their children, while a joint family is a larger family unit consisting the extended family as well.. Nuclear Family and joint family are two types of families that can be observed in the society around us. In simple terms, a nuclear family system is a family structure that consists of two parents living with their children, also known as an immediate family. Typically, but not always, the adults in a nuclear family are married. Historically, households in many societies had often consisted of groups of extended family members. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Well, the traditional definition is pretty simple to understand. On the other hand, the nuclear family only consists of parents and children. Whether a culture is patrilineal or matrilineal, a consanguineal family comprises lineage relatives and consists of parents, their children, and their children’s children. Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words? Children in a nuclear family may be the couple’s biological or adopted offspring. a family unit consisting of two parents and their reliant kids (adopted or biological). Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible). Synonyms for nuclear family include conjugal family, elementary family, people, ancestors, family, relatives, relations, clan, folks and herd. 'All Intensive Purposes' or 'All Intents and Purposes'? It’s seen as a contrast to single parent families and to larger extended families, or to families with more than two parents. The nuclear family, it was believed, was evidence of family decline. Anthropological research, however, has illuminated so much variability of this form that it is safer to assume that what is universal is a “nuclear family complex” in which the roles of husband, wife, mother, father, son, daughter, brother, and sister are embodied by people whose biological relationships do not necessarily conform to the Western definitions of these terms. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! The consanguineal family derives its stability from its corporate nature and its permanence, as its relationships emphasize the perpetuation of the line. This family unit became widely recognized because it’s where many of society’s rules and norms are passed along from parent to child. Thus defined, the nuclear family was once widely held to be the most basic and universal form of social organization. These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nuclear family.' Closely related in form to the predominant nuclear-family unit are the conjugal family and the consanguineal family. At present the dominant form of the family group consists of two spouses and the children they have produced or adopted. A nuclear family is not solely defined by these pe… As its name implies, the conjugal family is knit together primarily by the marriage tie and consists of mother, father, their children, and some close relatives. In simple words a nuclear family is one which consists of the husband wife and their unmarried children. Whether or not the nuclear family precedes industrialization—as, for instance, it seems to have done in England—in industrial society it certainly becomes the norm.….