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Nuclear Family Essay Example

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Nuclear Family Essay Example
1/14/2011

Nuclear family - Wikipedia, the free enc…

Nuclear family
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A nuclear family is a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children, who share living quarters. This can be contrasted with an extended family. Nuclear families can have any number of children. Historical records indicate that it was not until the 17th and 18th centuries that the nuclear family became prevalent in Western Europe. With the emergence of Proto-industrialisation and early capitalism, the nuclear family became a financially viable social unit.[1] According to Professor Wolfgang Haak of Adelaide University, the nuclear family is natural to Homo sapiens. A 2005 archeological dig in Elau, Germany, analyzed by Haak, revealed genetic evidence suggesting that the 13 individuals found in a grave were closely related. Haak said, "By establishing the genetic links between the two adults and two children buried together in one grave, we have established the presence of the classic nuclear family in a prehistoric context in Central Europe."[2] However, even here the evidence suggests that the nuclear family was embedded with an extended family. The remains of three children (probably siblings based on DNA evidence) were found buried with a woman who was not their mother but may have been an "aunt or a step-mother."[3]

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