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The term extended family has several distinct meanings. It consists of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. In some circumstances, the extended family comes to live either with or in place of a member of the nuclear family; a family that includes in one household near relatives in addition to a nuclear family. An example would be elderly parent who move in with their children due to old age. This places large demands on the caregivers, particularly on the female relatives who choose to perform these duties for their extended family. In modern Western cultures dominated by nuclear family constructs, it has come to be used generically to refer to grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, whether they live together within the same household or not.^[1] However, it may also refer to a family unit in which several generations live together within a single household. In some cultures, the term is used synonymously with consanguineous family.

In an extended family, parents and their children's families may often live under a single roof. This type of joint family often includes multiple generations in the family. From culture to culture, the variance of the term may have different meanings. For instance, in India, the family is a patriarchal society, with the sons' families often staying in the same house.

In the joint family set-up, the workload is shared among the members, often unequally. The roles of women are often restricted to housewives and this usually involves cooking, cleaning, and organizing for the entire family. The patriarch of the family (often the oldest male member) lays down the rules and arbitrates disputes. Other senior members of the household babysit infants in case their mother is working. They are also responsible in teaching the younger children their mother tongue, manners, and etiquette. Grandparents often take the leading roles due to the fact that they have the most experience with parenting and maintaing a household. Amy Goyer, AARP multigenerational issues expert, said the most common multigenerational household is one with a grandparent as head of household and his adult children having moved in with their children, an arrangement usually spurred by the needs of one or both to combine resources and save money. The second most popular is a grandparent moving in with an adult child's family, usually for caregiving reasons. She noted that 2.5 million grandparents say they are responsible for the basic needs of the grandchild living with them.^[2]

The house often has a large reception area and a common kitchen. Each family has their own bedroom. The members of the household also look after each other when a member is ill.

Sociology[link]

It has often been presumed that extended family groups sharing a single household enjoy certain advantages, such as a greater sense of security and belonging due to sharing a wider pool of members to serve as resources during a crisis, and more role models to help perpetuate desired behavior and cultural values. However, it should be noted that even in cultures where adults are expected to leave home after marriage to begin their own nuclear-based households, the extended family often forms an important support network offering similar advantages. Particularly in working-class communities, grown children tend to be establishing their own households within the same general area as their parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. These extended family members tend to gather often for family events and to feel responsible for helping and supporting one another, both emotionally and financially.^[3]

While contemporary families may be considered more mobile in general than in the past, sociologists find that this has not necessarily resulted in the disintegration of extended family networks. Rather, technological aids such as the Internet and social networking sites such as Facebook are now commonly used to retain contact and maintain these family ties.^[4]

Particularly in the case of single-parent households, it can be helpful for extended family members to share a single household in order to share the burden of meeting expenses. On the other hand, sharing a household can present a disadvantage depending on the sizes and number of families involved, particularly when only a few members shoulder most of the responsibility to meet expenses for the family's basic needs.^[5]

Around the world[link]

In many cultures, such as in those of many of the Southern Europeans, Asians, Middle Easterners, Africans, Latin Americans, and Pacific Islanders, extended families are the basic family unit. Cultures in which the extended family is common are generally collectivistic cultures.^{[citation needed]}

Australian Aborigines are another group for whom the concept of family extends well beyond the nuclear model. Aboriginal immediate families include aunts, uncles and a number of other relatives who would be considered "distant relations" in the context of the nuclear family. Aboriginal families have strict social rules regarding who they can marry. Their family structure incorporates a shared responsibility for all tasks.^{[citation needed]}

Where families consist of multiple generations living together, the family is usually headed by the oldest man. More often than not, it consists of grandparents, their sons and their son's families. Immigrants are also family members coming to stay

Hindu joint family[link]

A joint Hindu family otherwise called a "Hindu Undivided Family" [HUF] consists of all persons lineally descended from a common ancestor, and includes their wives and unmarried daughters. A daughter ceases to be a member of her father's family on marriage and becomes a member of her husband's family.^{[citation needed]} The joint and undivided family is the normal condition of Hindu society. An undivided Hindu family is ordinarily joint not only in estate, but also in food and worship. The existence of joint estate is not an essential prerequisite to constitute a joint family. A family that does not own any property may, nevertheless, be joint. Where there is joint estate, and the members of the family become separate in estate, the family ceases to be a joint family. Mere severance in food and worship does not operate as a separation. Businesses carried out by Hindu joint families in India are governed by the Hindu Law, where the liability of the entire business is borne out by the oldest surviving male member, who is the Manager of the family and is the head of family and is also the head of the business of the Hindu Undivided Family by default. He is called "Karta".

Recent trend in the United States[link]

In the early stages of the twentieth century, it was not very common to find many families with extended kin in their household. A reason for this may have been due to the idea that the young people in these times typically waited to establish themselves and start a household before they married and filled a home. As life expectancy becomes older and programs such as Social Security benefit the elderly, the old are now beginning to live past that of prior generations, which then may lead to generations mixing together.^[6] Per results of a study by Pew Research Center in 2010 approximately 50 million (nearly one in six) Americans, including rising numbers of seniors, live in households with at least two adult generations, and often three. It has become an ongoing trend for elderly generations to move in and live with their children, as they can give them support and help with everyday living. The main reasons cited for this shift are increase in unemployment and slumped housing prices and arrival of new immigrants from Asian and South American countries.^[7] The increase in the number of multigenerational households has created complex legal issues, such as who in the household has authority to consent to police searches of the family home or private bedrooms.^[8]

Economic Background[link]

Economic background has become a very prominent factor in the likelihood of living in an extended family. Many families who live in low income areas are beginning to move in with one another for financial and emotional support. It is the relative economic deprivation of racial⁄ethnic minorities that leads to higher levels of extended family involvement. Primarily because blacks and Latinos have less money and education than whites, they are more likely to give and receive help from kin. ^[9] Having family that you can rely on is very important in times of economic hardship especially if there are children involved. Living in an extended family provides constant care for children and support for other members of the family as well. Analysis of the National Survey of Families and Households suggests there are differences between whites and other ethnic groups because of economic differences among racial groups: blacks and Latinos less often have the economic resources that allow the kind of privatization that the nuclear family entails.7 Extended kinship, then, is a survival strategy in the face of economic difficulties.^[10] Being able to rely on not only two parents but grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Brothers, and Sisters helps to create a support system which in turn brings families closer together. Living in an extended family provides many things that a nuclear family does not.

The rise in multigenerational households has steadily begun to increase. According to the AARP, the number of multigenerational households has increased from 5 million in 2000 to 6.2 million in 2008. ^[11]This number is continuing to increase because of the economic hardships people are experiencing today. "There's no question that with some ethnicities that are growing in America, it is more mainstream and traditional to have multigenerational households. We're going to see that increasing in the general population as well," says AARP's Ginzler.^[12] While high unemployment and housing foreclosures of the recession have played a key role in the trend, Pew Research Center exec VP and co-author of its multigenerational household study Paul Taylor said it has been growing over several decades, fueled by demographic and cultural shifts such as the rising number of immigrants and the rising average age of young-adult marriages. ^[13] The importance of an extended family is one that many people may not realize, but having a support system and many forms of income may help people today because of the difficulties in finding a job and bringing in enough money.

Complex family[link]

'Complex family' is a generic term for any family structure involving more than two adults. The term can refer to any extended family or to a polygamy of any type. It is often used to refer to the group marriage form of polygamy.

See also[link]

• Cluster genealogy

References[link]

by richard