What is a nuclear family

A nuclear family is a family composed of a couple and unmarried children (whether related by blood or not). Often called "small home". After studying 250 families, anthropologist Murdoch classified them according to their kinship in the social structure (1949) to distinguish them from polygamous families and extended families.

Main features:

(1) is the basic unit developed by other two ethnic groups;

(2) There are two relationships: husband and wife and blood;

(3) less dependence on relatives;

(4) freedom to choose a spouse;

(5) The divorce rate is high;

(6) Lack of care from relatives. In other works, it is also called natural family, lineal family, biological family, family of origin, restricted family and basic family. , used to study the social facilities caused by marriage, family education and family structure changes.

Extended data

The stability of "nuclear family" should be regarded as the most basic guarantee of social harmony. We can understand it from the following three aspects:

First, the marriage relationship based on love is the premise of establishing a nuclear family. This premise is not only the development of the meaning of life at a new level, but also a natural process of human life.

Second, the acceptance of one life by another shows a new responsibility. While fulfilling their obligations in the marriage relationship, both parties actually undertake some social obligations.

Thirdly, if we want to examine the difference between nuclear family and non-nuclear family, we can often clearly feel that besides responsibility and emotion, there is also a strong sense of belonging, and every member of the family can feel the warmth.