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Nuclear Family: The Advantages of Being Independent
Family is one of the most significant components of the society. Family is a starting point
for every person to know the life and the world around him or her. This is why, both men and
women should thoroughly approach family planning and consider all the factors that might have
influence on their family life. One of such factors is family system which implies a family being
either nuclear or extended depending on the family members a family consists of. Both types of
family system can impact differently on the relationships and atmosphere within a family.
However, nuclear family can be a better family structure since it can decrease divorce rates,
increase parents’ time spent with children, contribute to developing family values, and diminish
the risk of child misbehavior.
Nuclear family is defined as a family system where a family includes only parents and
children. According to the interpretation of nuclear family by Coontz, in the twentieth century
being a nuclear family also meant having strict separation of men’s and women’s role in the
family. However, as it was perfectly mentioned by Coontz, the views are changing as the time is
going and the world is developing (42). Regarding to this, I assume that nowadays the term
“nuclear family” is not expected to establish that role separation. But instead, supports any roles
that are being chosen by modern wives and husbands. Modern nuclear family can be interpreted
as an independent social unit where spouses are capable to choose the appropriate way of how
their families will develop and contribute to the society development.
The freedom of choice and independence is one of the reason for nuclear family to be
perfect family structure. As I assume, family who live without any relatives or grandparents are
more likely to take a great responsibility of their and their children’s lives and hence, think over
their decisions more carefully. It happens that young couples are strongly influenced by their
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parents and when they live together spouses start relying too much on what their parents say.
Moreover, when parents or one parent of one of the spouses live together with the family, this so
called “decision–making” can be a cause of a big conflict between this parent and a spouse who
is not his or her child. In such cases, these two “traditionally” have different views on some issue
and suggest different solutions. One of the example from my friends’ family when she and her
parents moved to the house of her grandmother on the father’s side. Although my friend’s
parents would always do family routine peacefully, not arguing even once in life, everything
changed with their movement. The father started consulting with his mother more frequently
than with his wife, by which he caused her resentment. Besides the fact that the house was
actually owned by the grandmother aggravated the situation, so that the mother did not feel that
she is the one who keeps household. The spouses would quarrel more often with each day and
