Top 10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Nuclear Family

A Family is a group in which parents and their children related by blood live together. It is a widespread social phenomenon and became popular when the earning member of the family had to go out for work and his family (kids and wife) had to follow him. Eventually it became a trend and now it happens as a choice and most people are working away from their home cities.

To be more precise, Nuclear Family consists of husband, wife and their children. Once the children get married, they leave the parental house and establish their own may be in the same city or different. Hence it is an independent entity free from the control of the senior members. The other reason of setting up independent households apart from profession was the quarrels happening almost everyday between family members over trivial matters.

The both pros and cons of living in a nuclear family life are listed below:

1. Development of Personality

• Merits – Nuclear family plays a vital role in the overall expansion of character of individuals. Kids are more intimate to the parents and can frankly discuss their problems.
• Demerits – As it is an independent unit, it is free from the social control of the senior members of family. So the children may lead an undisciplined life and develop all sorts of bad qualities like stealing, lying. They become more unsocial as they do not get chance to mix with extended family members.

2. Autonomy

• Merits – This is perhaps the chief advantage of living in nuclear families.People can take their decisions freely. New couples can lead their lives on their own terms. They can innovate their lives by planning getaways, sleeping and eating habits, can make new customs and rules in their family which is not really unlike when they live with their parents.
• Demerits–Parents are a great source of learning because they have more experience of life. They understand the complications that life can bring and offer valuable piece of wisdom that is beneficial to live a full life. Living in nuclear family means no access to prized a dvices.

3. Finance Management:

• Merits – Nuclear families have sufficient financial stability to provide luxuries and opportunities to their children. They can pursue extra-curricular activities like dance, sports, music or any other types of programs. With these activities they develop themselves socially & academically.
• Demerits– Children split up the property as was held by the parents and live with their respective families. These leads to a lot of economic loss as the land price gets low. The yield is lesser than the remuneration one needs to pay laborers to maintain the land.

4. Condition of Women

• Merits – Women have a lot of time to look after her children. She can plan and manage her house as per her wish. The couples can actually spend quality time together. Therefore the condition of women is better as compared to joint families.
• Demerits –Women tend to burn out trying to meet every individual’s needs all by herself. She is playing multiple roles – cook, babysitter, maid and most of the times she has to manage this along with her job. She hardly gets time to pamper herself that results in the struggle she goes through inside of her to manage her relationships with others. Eventually stress, hopelessness, apprehension is a result.

5. Individual Responsibilities

• Merits – In nuclear family there is no shifting and sharing of responsibility. The parents have to take accountability of their children by themselves and work hard to take care of their family.
• Demerits – There is no help at hand as there are no other members to help out with cooking and cleaning and managing daily household chores. People have to micromanage everything.

6. Peace and harmony

• Merits – In Nuclear families there are no usually conflicts and inmates enjoy a peaceful environment at home. There are no clashes with the in-laws and the extended family members. People are emotionally secure and no one has superiority or inferiority complex.
• Demerits –There is less instant support during bad phase at the time of criticality. There is no emotional support if there is an accident or a monetary crisis. Having a family close by always helps.

7. Children

• Merits – Family planning is only possible in nuclear families. Since there are limited resources and in those limited resources people have to manage the responsibilities. Also In the long run, the children inherit property directly from their parents
• Demerits- In nuclear family both, the husband and wife, mostly take on jobs and their children are neglected and taken care by the servants. They feel lonesome and emotionally insecure and develop more anxiety. Grandparents only stay with them occasionally but it is the direct supervision of some family members which is required at an early stage of childhood.

8. Culture and traditions

• Merits– People become more receptive and accepting towards other cultures and traditions. They shun the obstinate ideology of holding on to stringent practices and traditions and rather simplify them. They re-create their customs and make them more accepting to the family because at times not all the customs can be followed.
• Demerits – Somewhere down the line, heritage and culture are lost as it is passed on to the future generations. Chances are that they get totally obsolete in the process.With the modernization taking on the customs and traditions, it is apparent that the future generations will either have no knowledge of customs and traditions or they will be confused since they accept other cultures also.

9. Inter-dependence and space

• Merits – Being interdependent on each other brings a lot of affection for each other. Everyone can embrace their individuality and there is lot of space to understand each other and help each other grow.
• Demerits –People at times begin to feel lonely when they get free. Housewives may feel that they have no one to talk to since the husband and kids are out for work and school/job respectively.

10. Family Bonding

• Merits – The family ties are strengthened as you meet your cousins and other extended family occasionally. Marriages, parties and get-togethers help an individual to keep his extended family closer to him emotionally.
• Demerits – Due to busy schedules, people don’t get time to frequently interact or meet their extended family resulting in isolation from their side. It becomes very difficult to create a space for the extended family within one’s own family

Conclusion–

There are both benefits and problems of living separately and together but the final decision depends on you and your partner.Though, amidst so many cons, nuclear family is still considered as an Ideal Family Structure. It is the most preferred method to raise kids. It definitely doesn’t guarantee success but at least it makes a person so independent and strong that he/she can find ways to be successful and happy.  However, by being conscious of the potential disadvantages, you can opt for ways to lighten them. After all, no family is flawless. But living together with all family members ensures the best possible results for everyone involved.