Anuclear family is the most common type of family in the western world, with the term gaining traction in the United States of America over the 20th century.
The traditional household family of two parents and children can be applied to a nuclear family, as well as other modern alternatives.
What is a nuclear family?
A nuclear family of two parents and their children, but doesn't include extended family members such as aunts, uncles, grandparents.
The number of children be one or above, and the parents don't have to be married. Nuclear families are considered the most simple, or basic, type of family and was seen as more important in the late 20th century, than it is now.
Can nuclear families have same-sex parents?
With same-sex marriage becoming legal in many countries, a couple consisting of two men, or two women, with children will also fall under the nuclear family category.
The children may be the couple's biological or adopted offspring.
Who is part of a nuclear family?
The meaning of a nuclear family has changed recently to become more inclusive, but the fundamentals of who is part of a nuclear family remain the same:
- Mother and father
- Parents who identify as LGBTQ+
- Biological or adopted children
- Legally married parents
- Parents who aren't married but are committed to each other and their family
Why is it called a nuclear family?
The term nucleus, usually used when referring to atoms, is often connoted as a basic or simple part of an organisation. Hence, why having children is the key to the term nuclear family because they provide the structure of a family that holds the couple together.
Bronislaw Malinowski is considered the founder of the term, which dates back to the 1920s when anthropology and sociology were still new to the world.
