Set up of Nuclear Families - Essay Example

? Nuclear Family: The Ideal Arrangement to Raise a Family Introduction Most of us take our roots from the family in which we are brought up and get a sense of belonging from the strong bondage given by our parents. A family moulds the character and destiny of people in such a way that it has a long lasting impact on their personal life. Values are taught within families from an early age that shapes the destiny of children and parents alike in all spheres of their lives. There are numerous set up of families but the nuclear family is amongst the most common type of family set up in most parts of the world. A nuclear family is a household consisting of two married people together with their legal children. The traditional nuclear family mainly composed of the father, mother, and a couple of children. This topic interests me because family forms the very basis of the children upbringing that have a long lasting impacts on their personal and communal lives. Currently, there are several changes in family set up because of economical and environmental influences that disorientate the traditional family set up and therefore, I would like to know whether nuclear family is ideal family set up. My initial hypothesis is that nuclear family is the best family arrangement when compared to other units. Literature Review Set up of nuclear families Nuclear families are often associated with nurturing environment in which to raise children and shower them with love and other forms of emotional and physical support (Phillip, 2005). In nuclear families, adults act as the biological or adoptive parents of their children who are under their direct care. Nuclear family of today is under great threat due to changes in social roles that often leads to single parent families and remarriages that result to extended families. The trends caused by this type of family set up bring with it certain complications, most of which affect the children in their childhood and adult life. Nuclear families come with several benefits such as stability in behavior, a sense of contingency, learning skills and sharing responsibility in the course of their life (Hayes & Kameguchi, 2005). However, Sandra (2013) argues that the disadvantage of nuclear family involves both the father and mother going to work and leaving their children alone to be baby sited by other people who are not part of the family. Religion and Culture on Nuclear Families According to Felipe (2012), family patters go with religion and more Christians are associated nuclear families than other religions like Muslims. He also adds that most of the young people who get married opt to move away from their joint family set up to form extended families and increase the levels of their privacy. Environmental set up and the extent of leisure has an effect on the level of an effect on nuclear families since parents leave their kids with others as they exploit opportunities and go for holidays. The new culture whereby women and men are looking for money to sustain their living in hard economic times is threatening the quality of nuclear families. Culture is currently the biggest determinant of family set up in most parts of the world and despite the threats to nuclear families, it's still on the increase. A man is the head of the family and is currently overwhelmed with financial issues thus making the woman to follow suit in order to help the man solve their family financial demands. Joint families are currently exiting and more nuclear family setups are on the rise. Women who have climbed the social ladder and hold a stable job always have the urged to settle with their husbands far away from their parents in order to establish their own nuclear families. The growing trend among the city women is also credited for the increased in nuclear families. The studies conducted by Kumari (2010) found out that about 72% of the women would like to live in nuclear families while the rest would prefer another family set up. On the other hand, Sandra (2013) argues that men are flexible and about 50% of men would like to live in nuclear family while the rest would prefer another family set ups. Impact of nuclear families on child development The studies on the effect of nuclear families on children by Bhang, Czajkowsi and Tambs (2010) found that nuclear family arrangement has a very positive impact on the level of education of the children. He explains that children born and raised within the nuclear family set up are associated with high grades and usually reach very high levels of academic ladder unlike their counterparts from other family set up. Hayes and Kameguchi (2005) also show that there is a positive relationship between parental income and grade point average and there is a more positive impact on having a mother who works less than full time basis. The hours worked by both parents also have an impact on child's grades in school for those who work part time have more time to assist their children on academic issues. A study conducted to access the role of the supportive nuclear family to the educational success of the young ones found that there is a positive correlation between educational success and supportive nuclear family (Kumari, 2010). The studies also found that academic achievement of secondary school student belonging to nuclear family set up from one hundred nuclear families found that their students performed well in their academic studies. Nuclear families and emotional and economic support According to Cahill (2000), nuclear family provides a stable environment to raise children since the parent allocates more time and energy to ensure that their children get emotional support as they develop into adulthood. The environment of nuclear family is associated with less conflict as compared to others and this gives a child a sense of stability in their relationship and emotional bonding. Children who grow in nuclear family set up have a sense of closeness with both parents and this makes them developed positive characters as he or she learns from them. Bang, Czajkowski and Tamb (2010) also supports that children who grows in nuclear family set up gets more training from their parents concerning life skills, emotional skills and relational skills that shapes them to become better people in the society. This makes them live a positive and smooth relationship with others that enables them to become better people in the society. Fathers give their boys handiwork skills and sporting skills that enables them to understand and exploit their talents that they can use positively in sports and other activities that benefit their lives. This physical and emotional support is what that is abundant in nuclear family can transform children to adults that are emotionally and physically fit to face the challenges that comes with life. By closely establishing their parents as they love one another and support each other, children also learn the value of families and this makes them potential parents in the future. In nuclear families where both parents have a permanent source of incomes, their siblings highly benefit since there is a double source of income that enables them to get most of their needs. The cash flow provided by these parents’ acts as the supply of the basic needs in terms of housing, food and shelter and health care. More family income enables the parents to provide for other extracurricular activities like music lessons and sporting lessons that allow children to flourish socially and develop a higher level of confidence. Nuclear Families and Future Parents Nuclear families tend to establish stronger bonds since they always act together in overcoming their daily challenges as their children witness (Cahill, 2000). This enables their children to interact appropriately with their peers due to resilience they learn as their parents face obstacles and solves them. They learn to solve problems and live supportive life as they establish their families and raise their children. According to Sandra (2013), a child who grows in nuclear family have a deep understanding of negative issues relating to divorce, cohabitation, out of wedlock pregnancies and encourages sexual abstinence until marriage. People who are in nuclear families are associated with less conflict like those who live in extended families. Nuclear family and health Children raised in nuclear families have good health than their counterparts from non nuclear families (Keera, 2013). The health concerns associated with children in extended families are mental disorders that result from family negligence and lack of adequate heath concern. In nuclear families, the children are given attention from both parents hence they are likely to be given more medical attention in matters relating to their health, making them healthier. Some health complications result from emotional instability that characterizes other forms of non nuclear families and such patterns of health complications are minimal in nuclear families. Discussion The parents who are in nuclear relationships are more stable in their households since they have very few people to deal with. The parents are less links with other people in their family set up since they decide everything they do and how they do it. The children who are raised in nuclear families enjoy more advantages than the children who are raised in in non nuclear families. They thus develop to become more upright people as they grow to become adults. My hypothesis that the nuclear family is more functional than one a one-parent family is highly supported by most scholars. Children raised in single parent families do not appreciate the value of family and parenthood. They do not recognize that significance of a man and a woman living together and this makes them responsible people in the future as they raise their families. In joint families, there is more emotional and financial support given to the kids in order for them to obtain the best living standards as they grow up. Parent in the nuclear family is bonded together with love and the children learn good morals from their parents as they develop into responsible parents in the future. Ethics is an important component of children in our communities that enables them to develop into proper ideals and good people in the society. Nuclear families eliminate the stress that comes with many people in one family set up as it is characterized by very few people mostly mother, father and their siblings. Both man and woman have important components of their characters that they are likely to pass to their offsprings. Conclusion Despite different forms of family set ups, nuclear family is still the most common and the most preferred system due to its numerous advantages. Both the children and their parents benefit from this from of the family set up that is very simple but effective to raise a family, the benefits enjoyed by the children ranges from financial, emotional and health benefits. Parent on the other hand has also benefited from the freedom as they have to make their own decisions regarding their operations leading to reduce conflicts that characterize most of the family set ups. Limitations of the study The limitation of this study is that it is only limited to the benefits and shortcomings of the nuclear family in relation to other family set up. The study is only limited to the general conclusion with less regards to environmental influences that also have an impact on nuclear families. Educational variables of the parents and their age limits is also not considered in this study but they also have an impact on the quality of life a family sets up lives. Future research plans Future research should examine the impact of economic changes and how they affect the nuclear families. In future, the research should establish the relationship between the nuclear family in relations to different cultures and religions since some culture tend to support other family units than others. References Bang, R., Czajkowski, N & Tambs, K. (2010). Family Matters: Happiness in Nuclear Families and Twins. Behaviour Genetics. Vol. 40 Issue 5, p577-590.  Cahill, L. (2000). Family: A Christian Social Perspective. Fortress Press. Print. Phillip, K. (2005) Multigenerational stress and Nuclear Family Functioning.  Contemporary Family Therapy. Vol. 27 Issue 2, p233-250.  Felipe, P. (2012). Family Therapy in Brazil: Current Status. International Review of Psychiatry, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p81-85.  Hayes, R & Kameguchi, K. (2005). Expanding Opportunities for Family Counsellors in Japan. The Family Journal; vol. 13, 3: pp. 291-299. Keera, A. (2013). Going Nuclear? Family structure and Young Women’s Health in India, 1992-2006. Demography. , Vol. 50 Issue 3, p853-880. Kumari, S. (2010). A Comparative Study to Explore The Positive and Negative Facts in Joint and Nuclear Family at Selected Rural Areas. Rajiv Gandhi University. Sandra, T. (2013). What Ever Happened to the Nuclear Family? Impact of a Changing American on Financial Services. Journal of Financial Service Professionals. Vol. 67 Issue 1, p27-29.  Read More