Changing Institution of Family

Posted 16 Apr 2025

Updated 20 Apr 2025

4 min read

Why in the News?

Recently, Supreme Court remarked that family values are eroding, with parents and children litigating against each other over property and maintenance, pushing the country toward a "One Person, One Family" Model, in contrast to the 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam'.

Changing Institution of Family in India

Aspect	Traditional Family	New Trends
Structure	Joint family system with multiple generations including grandparents, uncles, aunts, nieces, and nephews living together in the same household.	Predominantly nuclear families, often consisting of parents and non-adult children only.
Decision-Making	Patriarchal hierarchy with decisions made collectively by elders.	Increasingly more egalitarian approach with shared decision-making between men and women.
Marriage Practices	Arranged marriages often negotiated by elders; emphasis on lineage and family unity.	Increased acceptance of love marriages, live-in relationships, and non-traditional unions like same-sex partnerships.
Values	Collectivism emphasizing family loyalty, unity, and interdependence over individualism.	Growing individualism with focus on privacy, independence, and personal aspirations.

Factors behind the changes in Indian family institution

Economic factors: Urbanization, expanding labour market demand, higher cost of living in urban areas, dual-income households, etc.,
Changing gender role: Improved women's access to education and formal employment challenged the traditional patriarchal norms in households.
Westernization: Emphasis on values like individualism, leads to a preference for smaller and more private family settings.
Globalization: Exposure to global cultures through media and physical connectivity has introduced alternative family models and values. E.g., Multi Nation Corporations' (MNCs) work cultures often favour smaller and more flexible family units.
Role of Technology: Enhanced communication through modern tools (e.g., Skype, WhatsApp), though allows families to stay connected but have reduced face-to-face interactions, affecting the depth of relationships and emotional bonding.

Impact of Changing Family Institution

Positive Impacts

Negative Impacts

Active parenting: Fathers are increasingly involved in their children's upbringing, moving away from the traditional role of being just financial providers.
Strong parent child bond: In nuclear families, focused attention on children's education and personal development fosters deeper emotional connections, encouraging open communication and trust between parents and children.
Reduced familial conflict: Nuclear living can reduce disputes related to intergenerational control or property.
Greater autonomy: Individuals, especially women, can lead independent lives.

Inter-Generational conflicts: Differences in values and lifestyles (Generation gap) between parents and children, aggravated by technological adavcements, can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts.
Loss of traditional values: With strong emphasis on individualism, children raised in nuclear families may miss out on learning values like respect for elders, collectivism, and social norms that joint families traditionally instill.
Loneliness
- In Children: The absence of siblings or cousins in smaller families can lead to feelings of isolation, impacting the welfare of child.
- In parents: Similarly, neglect in old age can lead to physical ailment, mental health issues and social marginalization among parents.
Pressure on social infrastructure: Greater demand for institutional elder care, child care, and public health support.

Way Forward

Strengthen community-based support systems: Build robust neighbourhood-based elder care, crèche, and mental wellness centers.
- Encourage RWAs and Panchayats to foster local social capital. Example: Kerala's Kudumbashree network integrates community and care economy, especially for the elderly and women.
Education and social awareness: Include value education and emotional intelligence in school curricula to nurture family empathy.
Promote intergenerational living through urban planning: Incentivize housing projects that accommodate multi-generational homes.
Redefining the concept of family: States policies and governance framework need to move beyond traditional definition (joint/ nuclear) of families to include and accommodate single-parent families, elderly living alone, etc.
- This can help in effective targeting and delivery of welfare programmes for different types of families.
Policy Interventions: Effective implementation of Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 which specifies that children can be legally held liable for not supporting their parents.
- Also, free legal aid for elderly can help them assert their rights and challenge neglect or abuse.