On the basis of structure, the family has been classified as
(1) nuclear
(2) joint family.
Nuclear family is one which consists of the husband, wife or wives and their children. The children leave the parental households as soon as they are married. A nuclear family is an autonomous unit free from the control of the elders. Since the newlyweds creates a separate residence the physical distance between parent and married child parent and grandparent minimized the interdependence between them.
Joint family can be viewed as a merger of several nuclear families. Thus a small joint family may include an old man and his wife, their son, the son’s wife and the son’s children, two nuclear families, the son being a member of both. A large joint family may include the old man and his four wives, their unmarried children and married sons, and the son’s wives, their unmarried children. A joint family may be crammed into a single house, or it may occupy a cluster of houses within an joint family compound, or the houses mat be more widely dispersed than this.
