1. Families & Households
Different types

2. What do we mean by Household?
A household can be just one person living alone
Or a group of people who live at the same address
They will share meals or facilities such as a living room
People living together in shared households are not necessarily related
A Family household however is one in which family members live together in the same home

3. Nuclear families
A nuclear family consists of a father, mother and their dependent child or children
It contains just 2 generations
The family members live together in the same household
The parents may be married or they may be cohabiting
Either way they are “bound together”
This is often referred to as the CEREAL PACKET FAMILY
Why do you think this is so?

4. Extended Families
An extended family includes relatives beyond the nuclear family
It usually contains 3 generations
They may live together in the same house or live nearby
In this way, the family is extended vertically
Families may be extended horizontally
With the addition of the husband’s brother or the wife’s cousin
In this case just 2 generations would live together or nearby
Draw a diagram of a vertically and horizontally extended family

5. Lone –parent families
A lone-parent family consists of one parent and a dependent child or children who live together
They are often called single parent families
The parent is usually but not always a woman
They are most likely to be lone parents because of separation, divorce or because they are widowed

6. Stepfamilies These are also known as RECONSTITUTED families
Due to the increased divorce rate of the last 50 years individuals are more likely to be married more than once
and have a number of children who were not all produced with the same partner.
The dynamic of a step family consists of children and parents who are not all biologically related.

7. Same sex families
This consists of children, and parents who are of the same sex.
Due to recent legal developments this family dynamic has had the chance to develop, even though it only counts as a small number of families in this country.
This has been made possible by The Civil Partnership Act 2005, the development of IVF and surrogacy and the availability of adoption.

8. Check your understanding!
What are the similarities and possible differences between a household and a family?
What are the basic differences between nuclear and extended families?
List the ways in which someone can be closely attached to their extended family.
Explain why mothers may choose to belong to a lone parent family.