Once India was renowned worldwide for its culture of joint families. Bringing up in a joint family was believed to inculcate in an individual the necessary values of adaptability, adjustment, understanding, etc. to live in society. However, the trend seems to have changed now. This is because the people now prefer nuclear families more. Living in a nuclear family leads to a stronger bond between a child and his parents, is the general feeling among the modern-day parents.
In a nuclear family, the parents get more time to focus on the development of their child. This is helpful for the proper grooming of their children. There are minimum chances of conflicts between the two generations—parents and grandparents—which interfere with the child’s development.
Positive and negatives traits are associated with both these types of families.
However, keeping in pace with the present day lifestyle, nuclear families are more appropriate to handle. The present generations wanting to settle in nuclear families could be due to this advantage.
Another argument made by some parents is that the level of scrutiny in a joint family is higher on a child, even though it gets lot of love and care in joint families. For example, in case of the child making a mistake, both the parents and other family members may shout on him or counsel him, thus, making the child uncomfortable.
In joint families, the probability of difference in opinion may also be much higher. It becomes increasingly difficult to maintain harmony among all the family members as the family gets bigger. Hence, in such families, risk of stress also increases.
However, the level of celebration and fun and enjoyment associated with it, such as festivals, birthdays, etc. is unforgettable and much higher in joint families.
However, most of the middle-class families have working parents who believe the nuclear family system to suit their living style, giving them more time for themselves and their children. A section of sociologists also agrees with this viewpoint that the scope for parents to pay attention to their children increases a lot in a nuclear family.
However, another section of sociologists have counterarguments on the failure of nuclear families to instil in their children the importance of strong family bonds, close knit relatives and social norms.
As, this debate will continue forever, the family type should be decided after due consideration involving the consensus of all the family members and making everyone comfortable and happy. The nuclear families can help reduce the inconvenience of staying together as a joint family, but the bond among the family members should remain intact.