Nuclear family

Basically a family consisting of a) mother, b) father, c) children, d) and a status of being able to provide itself with material and/or monetary goods. In contrast to the extended family, the nuclear family has to share the goods and resources only between a small group of individuals. This form of household organisation emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries. Most scholars see a close connection of the nuclear family with the processes and changes due to the Industrial Revolution.

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Sources:

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-23-2004-55793.asp

Ariés, Phhillipe, Georges Duby, et al. (eds.). A History of Private Life. 5 vols. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990ff.