Introduction:

Family   is   the   basic   unit   of   society.   Family   is   a   bio-social   group   which   is characterized by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction.  The meaning of the family and its boundaries are differed widely from one society to another. Family is not an association only it is an institutional complex or system of institutions which bears primary importance in the socialization of the young. Thus, it consists of a man and a woman, permanently united, with one or more children.

Body:

Family – a Universal social institution in India:

• The family, in Indian society, is an institution by itself and a typical symbol of the collectivist culture of India right from the ancient times.
• The joint family system or an extended family has been an important feature of Indian culture, till a blend of urbanization and western influence, began to affect in home and hearth.
• This is especially true of urban areas, where nuclear families have become the order of the day.
• There is no denying the fact that socio-economic factors have played their role in the joint family system getting diluted.
• Families play an important role in preserving and promoting the cultural and social values in a society.
• Children who grow up in an extended family not only imbibe qualities of tolerance, patience, democratic attitude of accepting others’ viewpoints, but also develop sportsman’s spirit while playing with siblings and cousins.
• Various age-old traditions, customs and ways of living are all products of family system. In fact, the family system lays the seeds for social cohesion and democratic thinking.
• Family system creates a strong bond of unity at an early age, paves the way for social cohesion and in a broader sense promotes national unity.
• The qualities of sharing and caring by senior family members automatically lead them to think of a secure future for their children by making savings. This is in turn helps in strengthening national economy.
• Living with close family members rather than spending time in a crèche or play school will immensely contribute towards making the childhood memorable and happier, a crucial factor to the overall personality development of an individual.
• Family can shape the world view, foster and reinforce the value system of the individuals and therefore, consequently, be the warp and weft of a sustainable, peaceful, inclusive, prosperous world.

Changes in universal quality of family system in India:

• Decline of Extended Family System:
  • There is a worldwide movement towards small, nuclear family maintaining a separate and independent household and breaking down of the traditional extended (joint) family system and other types of kin groups.
  • Their influence is declining in every field of life. A modified extended family structure is emerging in which individual nuclear families retain considerable autonomy and yet maintain connections with other nuclear families or so-called ‘joint family’.
• Changing Authority Pattern:
  • There is a change in the division of labour and authority in the family. Male authority is declining in the modern family. The authority is slipping from the hands of family elders because of new economic and political opportunities.
  • Young couples do not rely on family elders for job instructions or education of their children. Because of the dual-career marriages, there is a significant change in the attitude towards equality between married partners.
• Changing Status of Women:
  • The rights of women are becoming more recognized in respect to both initi­ation of marriage and decision-making in the family.
• Changing Economic Functions:
  • Modern family is no longer united by shared work on the farm. It is now a unit of consumption instead of a unit of production as it was in the agrarian society. It is now united by feelings of companionship, affection and recre­ation only.
• Decline in Family Size:
  • Economic considerations force the young to have smaller family with one or two children.
• Changing Attitudes towards Marriage:
  • There is an increase in male-female couples who choose to live together without marriage. This has given rise to the concepts of ‘living together,’ ‘living arrangements’ or ‘live-in relationships.
  • Also new types of families crop with where same gender couples also cohabitate.
• As a part of the revolution, the nuclear family emphasizes the importance of the freedom of the individual to choose his/her own life and control his/her own destiny.
• There’s no ‘ideal family’ defined by children or lineage. It comes in different shapes and sizes. And it has grown to embrace individual choices, and social realities: single children, divorce, double incomes, sexual freedom.
• Accelerated rate of rural-urban migration, diversification of gainful economic activities and individual-friendly property laws, have had consequential impact in terms of drastic reductionin the size of family in the country.

Conclusion:

Man’s life from the cradle to the grave is spent in the family in general. The ascetics are the exception to this norm.  It gives a sense of continuity to life.  Though patterns of family life differ widely, all families have aims and functions.  All meet the basic needs of children and adults.  Moreover, all have certain common goals such as looking after the helpless child to grow and mature, socializing the child to suit the group life, providing them with the cultural frame work of obligations and relationship.