The life cycle of a joint family depends on economic factors rather than social values. Discuss.

January 27, 2022 February 22, 2024

The life cycle and sustainability of a joint family is tied more closely to economic realities than social values or traditional beliefs about the benefits of living jointly. A few key factors related to this are:

  • Financial viability – As the joint family grows in size over generations, there comes a point when there are too many dependents and not enough income earners. The economic resources get overly strained, making it hard for the family’s needs and expenses to be met. This creates tensions and practical difficulties that lead to partitions.
  • Changing job market – With urbanization and technology changes, the nature of employment has changed. Jobs are more likely to require geographic mobility which is harder for joint families. There are also fewer traditional family businesses supporting joint families.
  • Land divisions – The land and property belonging to a joint family often gets divided over generations as assets are distributed. This depletes the economic resources available to sustain the family jointly.
  • Government policy – Tax and inheritance laws, land ceiling limits etc. make it more advantageous for families to live and operate as nuclear units rather than joint setups.

So while social traditions and values do favour the preservation of joint families, most families find it impractical to continue living together beyond a certain size and for more than a couple of generations. Economics determines whether joint living is viable. The sentiment in favour of togetherness takes a back seat once resources become stretched too thin. This phenomenon can be seen from historical landlord families to modern upper-middle class families. Economics trumps values when determining the sustainability of joint family structures.

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1 Comment

  1. Ankit Shubham

    April 13, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    The joint family is synonymous with the traditional Indian society whose characteristics include presence of common household, multi generational members, more than one socially approved couple, common social and ritual practices.Other than carrying common social obligations, it provides economic protection to its members. Lately, economic factors are playing a decent role in formation of numerous nuclear family after disintegration of the joint ones.
    1. Feminism: Goran Therborn in his study Between Sex and Power (2004) assessed the increasing role of women due to their participation in workforce during the world war and feminist movements of the 1970s and held that this increased their role in families as well. Working women tend to live away from homes with the family which leads to disintegration of joint families.
    2. Urbanisation: It is assessed that the number of nuclear families in urban areas are on rise. William Bolsche stated in his study stated that the declining joint families could be attributed to scare and expensive resources which makes a nuclear family economically viable.
    3. Land Reforms: The set of land reforms led to fragmentation of lands into smaller unit thus giving rise to nuclear families which were otherwise bound by the common household and property.
    4. Migration: Rural-Urban migration due to urbanisation and poor resource availability in rural areas are leading to fragmentation of joint families.
    5. No individual recognition of achievements: The Marxist views on joint family held that joint family results in individual achievements resulting into collective one and Mergret Benston has held the work of house making wives as unpaid labour. The increasing number of nuclear families are result for individualism.

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