500-1-6-Love & Friendship

6 ►Passage 1 – Four types of family structure

Over the last 50 years family structure has changed. Today society identifies four types of families. Some families even fall into more than one category. For example, a single parent family that lives in an extended family.

The nuclear family is the traditional type of family structure. This family consists of two parents and children. For the longest time, the nuclear family was the ideal family to raise children. It is still the most common family structure in the United States. About 70 percent of families fall into this structure.

Single-parent families consist of one parent raising one or more children on his own. This family may include a single mother with her children, a single dad with his kids, or a single person with their kids. The single parent family is the biggest change society has seen in terms of the changes in family structures. About 25 percent of children are born to a single mother.

Extended families include two or more adults who are related, either by blood or marriage, living in the same home. Extended families could include cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents living together. This type of family structure may form because of financial difficulties or because older relatives are not able to care for themselves alone.

While most people think of family as including children, there are couples who either cannot or choose not to have children. Childless families consist of two partners living and working together.