Joint Family vs Nuclear Family:
- In general, villages have more joint families than cities. Nuclear families are a common phenomenon in towns and cities due to the rising migration for employment opportunities. Both types of families have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Joint Family:
Advantages of Joint Family:
- In joint families, Elderly parents will get the support of children. Young parents will get the help of their parents in raising kids. Kids can get plenty of attention from parents, grandparents and other extended family members. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.
- People will learn the importance of adjustment from childhood because when many people are living under one roof, it requires adjustment and understanding to prevent conflicts.
- Members of the joint family can sustain daily needs even in cases of sudden job losses because most probably there will be more than one earning person in a joint family.
- There will be no dearth of friends, because of having cousins/relatives in their own home.
- Functions and festivals will be super fun.
- Children can have the guidance and support of grandparents. When both parents are working, this support will be of great help.
- Increasing incidents of child kidnapping and human trafficking are worrying issues for parents of children. In joint families, this fear will be less because there will be a number of people to take care of their children.
- Joint families are cost-effective units. Paying rent for individual houses can be avoided. Shared financial responsibilities will reduce the burden on everyone.
- People in joint families will get plenty of support in times of difficulty.
- Members of joint families are less likely to suffer from loneliness and depression.
- People who were raised in joint families can easily mingle with other people. It’ll be very helpful in having an active social life.
Disadvantages of Joint Family:
- As several families live together, there can be plenty of conflicts in sharing household work and financial responsibilities etc. This may affect relationships.
- In general, gender division of work passes on from generation to generation in joint families. So, women in joint families may have to take care of the house chores, even if they are working women. In some families, elder members don’t even allow women of the house to have a career. These situations can make women in joint families depressed.
- There will be less privacy for everyone in the family.
- In the case of decision-making, it’ll be tough to reach a consensus because of the number of people involved.
- Earning members may feel that they are being taken for granted by lazy members of the family.
Nuclear Family:
Advantages of the Nuclear family:
- More privacy.
- There will not be many conflicts with extended family as they will have much fewer possibilities of conflicts.
- It’s easy to convince everyone in the family in case of making decisions.
- Nuclear families tend to have more gender equality compared to joint families because it does not contain elders to impose age-old beliefs on the entire family.
- Adults in nuclear families will learn to be independent and will take responsibility to support their families. The same will be learned by kids, and they can easily sustain themselves when they migrate to a new area to live on their own.
- Parents can save money for the future of their kids as they will have fewer expenses.
- Relationships with extended family will be much better for those living in nuclear families because they don’t have to quarrel every day under one roof.
Disadvantages of the Nuclear family:
- When both parents are working, it will be difficult for them to raise kids.
- They may become isolated from extended family.
- Children may follow the same trend and may leave their parents once they start earning. This can cause loneliness in elderly parents. But not everyone feels the same, some people will enjoy the freedom in old age and will start new hobbies or rekindle old passions.
- Children may get attracted to bad habits and bad friends easily when compared to children who have a lot of support and guidance from grandparents, uncles and aunts.
Conclusion:
Both types of families have their own advantages and disadvantages. People choose to have a nuclear family or a joint family depending on their situations and personal preferences.
Your Turn…
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