Extended Family
Extended family refers to a family structure that encompasses the nuclear family—parents and their dependent children—as well as additional relatives, often spanning multiple generations such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. This arrangement is prevalent in various regions around the world, particularly in Asia, the Middle East, South America, and sub-Saharan Africa. Extended families play a significant role in caregiving, economic support, and cultural traditions within these communities. In many cases, they may share living spaces or work collaboratively, especially in agrarian societies where collective labor is essential for survival.
Culturally, extended families may function under different lineage systems, including patrilineal, matrilineal, or cognatic descent, each influencing family roles and inheritance practices. The structure of extended families can vary widely, with some living in shared households while others maintain close proximity to foster cooperation. The emotional dynamics within these families can provide significant support, yet challenges may arise, particularly when younger generations seek independence or when financial burdens complicate relationships. Overall, extended families remain a vital aspect of social organization, reflecting diverse cultural values and economic realities across the globe.
Extended Family
The term extended family refers to a family group that includes both the nuclear family—parents or stepparents and dependent children—and people related to them. An extended family often includes more than two generations. For example, many extended families include grandparents, their children, and the offspring of those children. Extended family groups are most common in Asia, the Middle East, South America, and sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Pew Research Center in 2020, 54 percent of households in India and 56 percent in Middle East-North Africa included extended families.
In some cultures, an extended family is based on unilineal descent, which means the members are related only through the female or male line. Often the tradition of the extended family sharing quarters or working together is based on economic need.
Overview: Background
Extended families have banded together throughout history. However, not all cultures observed this practice. An extended family household may have been formed temporarily in response to economic conditions or to care for the very young or the very old.
Ancient hunter-gatherer societies are examples of traditional extended family groups. Long ago, survival was difficult because resources were scarce. The larger the family unit, the greater the chances of finding food or succeeding on a hunt. When food was in short supply, members of the extended family would share what food they had found or caught.
After the Industrial Revolution (1760–1840), a period when many people in Europe and North America moved from farms to urban areas, the nuclear family structure became more common. Wider access to education also created new opportunities for individuals, many of whom left their families behind to start new lives in other towns or cities.
Family Structures
In many cultures, the extended family is crucial in caring for young children. Relatives might live in a single household or in close proximity to one another. They may also work together. For example, in agrarian cultures, family members work together on the farm. Older members of the family might make important decisions, such as approving of spouses for young adults in the family.
Patriarchal lineage, or lineage based on the male line of the family, is common in many cultures. In China, the father is customarily the head of a household. With him live his unmarried daughters, his sons and their families, the families of his sons and their unmarried daughters, and so on. Some other patrilineal cultures include the Bedouin in Egypt, the Juang of central India, and the Tiv of Nigeria. The Tiv, a polygamous culture, live in compounds where households include a man and his wives, their children, and even the brothers of the head of the household and their families. Many related family groups populate a region and work together.
In some cultures—usually agricultural societies in which the women do most of the farm work—extended families traditionally adhere to a matrilineal structure (also called a matriarchy). The men in these cultures join the households of their wives' families. In these communities, women are more likely to own property and hold political power. Some examples of matrilineal societies include the Hopi of North America, the people of the Trobriand Islands, and small communities in central Africa, northeastern and southeastern India, and south-central Vietnam.
Some cultures adhere to a cognatic, or bilateral, descent system. In these groups, extended families may be related through a mix of female and male connections and family may be defined in unique ways. For example, the Zumbagua of Ecuador establish kinship through food, while the Tiv trace their lineage to a common ancestor. The Maori of New Zealand traditionally lived in tribes that were established many generations ago. Their tribal ties may be based on the canoe on which their ancestors arrived or traced back to a single ancestor. The extended families, which may include four generations, belong to clans in which everyone works for the common good. The eldest daughters traditionally hold high status. Although the influence of European settlers upset the traditional structure of extended Maori families, many people began to reclaim their heritage later in the twentieth century.
In some cultures, extended families share one residence. Stem family households include two or more generations of related nuclear families. These structures are typically found in cultures where inheritance is based on gender and birth order. Traditionally, a property or title would pass from an elder male to a firstborn son in a practice known as primogeniture. Such systems are commonly found in Asia. Some scholars believe the main purpose of this practice is to ensure that the elderly are cared for. Other families live in lineally extended households, which include grandparents and grandchildren; collaterally extended households, which include aunts, uncles, nephews, and nieces; or affinally extended households, in which members are connected through marriage. Lineal extended families are the most common in modern societies. Collateral extended families are often found in India, where brothers, their wives, and all their children may live together. Affinal extended families are often found in cultures where group marriages or polygamy is common.
Economic and Social Issues
Sociologists disagree on whether extended families provide financial benefits. Some societies thrive under this structure, while it is almost unheard of in others. For example, Nordic countries provide financial support for young adults, including free higher education, unemployment insurance, and housing support. Because young adults do not have to rely on family for financial support, they often move away from relatives.
Financial and societal disadvantages of extended families include a falling birth rate and declining productivity as the population ages. The older generations often find themselves struggling financially in retirement because they have supported family members for many years.
Emotionally, extended families may suffer if older generations feel that younger relations are not working toward independence. However, members of multiple-generation households often find emotional satisfaction in being involved in their loved ones' lives.
Bibliography
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Kramer, Stephanie. "With Billions Confined to Their Homes Worldwide, Which Living Arrangements Are Most Common?" Pew Research Center, 2020, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/03/31/with-billions-confined-to-their-homes-worldwide-which-living-arrangements-are-most-common/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.
Newman, Katherine. "Extended Families? Depends on the Country." New York Times. The New York Times Company. 27 Dec. 2011, www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/26/the-whole-family-under-one-roof/extended-families-depends-on-the-country. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.
"Story: Tribal Organisation." Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. New Zealand Ministry for Culture & Heritage. 9 Nov. 2012, www.teara.govt.nz/en/tribal-organisation. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.
Wagner, Amy E. "Extended Families." International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family. Ed. James J. Ponzetti. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2003. 536–541. Print.