Around the world

In many cultures, such as in those of many of the Asians, Middle Easterners, Africans, Eastern Europeans, Indigenous Latin Americans and Pacific Islanders, extended families are the basic family unit. Even in Western Europe, extended families (mostly of the stem type) were also clearly prevalent, England being a rare exception.[12] Some have stated that the relative "uniqueness" of the traditional English family (the absolute nuclear family) was at least partly responsible for the birth of industrialization, free-market capitalism and liberalism in that country.

It is common for today's world to have older children in nuclear families to reach walking to up to driving age ranges before meeting extended family members. Geographical isolation is common for middle-class families who move based on occupational opportunities while family branches "retain [their] basic independence." [13] Some extended families hold family reunions or opportunities for gathering regularly, normally around holiday time frames, to reestablish and integrate a stronger family connection. This allows individual nuclear families to connect with extended family members.

Australian Aborigines are another group for whom the concept of family extends well beyond the nuclear model. Aboriginal immediate families include aunts, uncles and a number of other relatives who would be considered "distant relations" in the context of the nuclear family. Aboriginal families have strict social rules regarding who they can marry. Their family structure incorporates a shared responsibility for all tasks.[citation needed]

Where families consist of multiple generations living together, the family is usually headed by the oldest man. More often than not, it consists of grandparents, their sons and their son's families.
Hindu joint family
Main article: Hindu joint family

A joint Hindu family otherwise called a "Hindu Undivided Family" consists of all persons lineally descended from a common ancestor, and includes their wives and unmarried daughters. A daughter ceases to be a member of her father's family on marriage and becomes a member of her husband's family. The joint and undivided family is the normal condition of Hindu society. An undivided Hindu family is ordinarily joint not only in estate, but also in food and worship. The existence of joint estate is not an essential prerequisite to constitute a joint family. A family that does not own any property may, nevertheless, be joint. Where there is joint estate, and the members of the family become separate in estate, the family ceases to be a joint family. Mere severance in food and worship does not operate as a separation. Businesses carried out by Hindu joint families in India are governed by the Hindu Law, where the liability of the entire business is borne out by the oldest surviving male member, who is the manager of the family and is the head of family and is also the head of the business of the Hindu Undivided Family by default. He is called "Karta".
Recent trend in the United States
See also: American family structure

In the early stages of the twentieth century, it was not very common to find many families with extended kin in their household. A reason for this may have been due to the idea that the young people in these times typically waited to establish themselves and start a household before they married and filled a home.[citation needed] As life expectancy becomes older and programs such as Social Security benefit the elderly, the old are now beginning to live past that of prior generations, which then may lead to generations mixing together.[14] Per results of a study by Pew Research Center in 2010 approximately 50 million (nearly one in six) Americans, including rising numbers of seniors, live in households with at least two adult generations, and often three. It has become an ongoing trend for elderly generations to move in and live with their children, as they can give them support and help with everyday living. The main reasons cited for this shift are increase in unemployment and slumped housing prices and arrival of new immigrants from Asian and South American countries.[15] In 2003, the number of U.S. "family groups" where one or more subfamilies live in a household (e.g. A householder's daughter has a child. The mother-child is a subfamily) was 79 million. 2.6 million of U.S. multigenerational family households in 2000 with a householder, the householder's children, and the householder's grandchildren. That's 65 percent of multigenerational family households in the U.S. So it's twice as common for a grandparent to be the householder than for adult children to bring parents into their home.[16] The increase in the number of multigenerational households has created complex legal issues, such as who in the household has authority to consent to police searches of the family home or private bedrooms.[17]
Economic background

Economic background has become a very prominent factor in the likelihood of living in an extended family. Many families who live in low-income areas are beginning to move in with one another for financial and emotional support. The relative economic deprivation of racial/ethnic minorities leads to higher levels of extended family involvement. Primarily because blacks and Latinos have less money and education than whites, they are more likely to give and receive help from kin.[18] Having family on which you can rely is very important in times of economic hardship especially if there are children involved. Living in an extended family provides constant care for children and support for other members of the family as well. Analysis of the National Survey of Families and Households suggests there are differences between whites and other ethnic groups because of economic differences among racial groups: blacks and Latinos less often have the economic resources that allow the kind of privatization that the nuclear family entails.7 Extended kinship, then, is a survival strategy in the face of economic difficulties.[19] Being able to rely on not only two parents but grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Brothers, and Sisters helps to create a support system which in turn brings families closer together. Living in an extended family provides many things that a nuclear family does not.

The number of multigenerational households has been steadily rising because of the economic hardships people are experiencing today. According to the AARP, multigenerational households have increased from 5 million in 2000 to 6.2 million in 2008.[20]"There's no question that with some ethnicities that are growing in America, it is more mainstream and traditional to have multigenerational households. We're going to see that increasing in the general population as well," says AARP's Ginzler.[21] While high unemployment and housing foreclosures of the recession have played a key role in the trend, Pew Research Center exec VP and co-author of its multigenerational household study Paul Taylor said it has been growing over several decades, fueled by demographic and cultural shifts such as the rising number of immigrants and the rising average age of young-adult marriages.[22] The importance of an extended family is one that many people may not realize, but having a support system and many forms of income may help people today because of the difficulties in finding a job and bringing in enough money.