Difference Between Joint Family and Nuclear Family

What comes to your mind when you are asked about living a happy life – A good house, a nice car, money to travel, and healthy relations? Well, it completely depends on person to person, but having a good relationship, a bond of love with the family member, and money beyond the needs can make things easier.

There are currently two types of living preferences in the family, joint and nuclear. A person living with kids, parents, and siblings under the same roof is part of a joint family. On the other hand, a family of few people is a nuclear family. A nuclear family may have kids and parents. Both types of living standards are amazing, and they come with some pros and cons.

If you are willing to decide what’s better, a joint family or a nuclear family, then going through our quick guide will help to learn in-depth.

Joint Family Vs Nuclear Family: Comparison

Key Factors	Nuclear Family	Joint Family
Explanation	A family of core members	A family of unilineal members
Living Cost	Expenses are 30% to 40% extra for the earning members of the family	Expenses divide among the earning members, and it is quite cheap
Burden	If there is a single earning member in the house, then there is plenty of burden.	The burden divides among earning members of the family.
Issues	There are fewer chances of having conflicts.	Joint families are hard to sustain due to conflict between cousins, siblings, and other members, which can escalate quite easily.
Personal Space	You can have personal space and less disturbance for things.	Personal space is less viable as there are so many members, so you rarely get time to sit alone.
Fun to Live	Nuclear families have lots of fun, but it is sometimes boring.	Joint families usually have lots of fun as you learn to coexist with many people. You can have lots of fun playing, doing things and so on.

Let’s take a close look at the given points with some explanation.

Living Cost

Suppose you are the earning member of the nuclear family, and you earn 50k per month. If you live in a rented house, you will be paying plenty of money for the space. On the other hand, if you are living in a joint family with a large house on rent, then the expenses will divide among two people. However, the rent for a large house is not increased by a substantial amount. The expenses divide.

Personal Space

A nuclear family with a core member and two kids will have at least two to three rooms in the house. Kids can enjoy their personal space, and there is no need to worry about sharing the room. However, it is impractical in a joint family. It is rare to have a personal room for kids as every other member also has their children. Usually, study rooms or children’s rooms are shared in a joint family. So, personal space is hard to expect.

Conflicts

The chances of conflict in a nuclear family can be an argument between the two. These types of fights usually settle on their own. However, when you are living in a joint family, conflict can occur for many reasons. Some possible reasons are –

• Not contributing an equal amount to running the house for food and other expenses.
• Not getting enough importance to your siblings, uncles, or other members.
• Fight between kids may turn into a family separation and hate.
• A kitchen for all can’t cook a variety of dishes as of liking and disliking of an individual.
• Agreement of all family members for something like house renovation, color scheme, buying electronics, and so on.

These are some possible reasons which can make it hard to live in a joint family. However, a joint family is also helpful in fixing conflicts between two members of the house, couples, and so on.

Enjoyable

It is easy to say that you will enjoy living in a joint family more than a nuclear family. Having the same kitchen for everyone helps in coexisting in the same place and adjusting as per nature. It is quite helpful in being social and not dealing with many other issues.

Conclusion

If a joint family is run by grandparents and their decisions are respected by every family member, then you can have a great time. But, if siblings decide to coexist in a joint family with so many members, then there might have issues in the longer run.