The nuclear family is a household consisting of parents and their dependent children. It is often contrasted with the extended family, which includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. The nuclear family became the idealized norm in mid-20th-century Western societies, but it is not universal or timeless.

In many parts of the world, the nuclear family is one form among many. Single-parent families, blended families, same-sex-parent families, and multigenerational households are all common. The nuclear family ideal was reinforced by postwar suburbanization, television sitcoms, and government policy.

Functions and critiques

• Provides emotional intimacy and daily care
• Socializes children into society
• Pools economic resources
• Can isolate members from wider kin support
• Can conceal abuse and inequality

Divorce, delayed marriage, and economic precarity have made the nuclear family less stable for many people. Sociologists now study family diversity rather than treating one form as standard.