Lesson 2 — Activity 1: Types of Families

Have a look at the images presented below.

   

by ed and eddie is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

What do you think each of the images above shows? If you think the images all show examples of families, you are correct!

As you can see, there are many different types of families. Below are family types and their definitions.

    Nuclear Family

    A nuclear family consists of parents and their biological or adopted descendants. A nuclear family with a mother and a father is often called a traditional family.

    Single Parent Family

    A single parent family consists of a single parent or guardian with one or more children. In this family, there is only one parent in the household raising the children. Due to high divorce rates and adults choosing not to marry, this is currently the fastest growing type of family in North America.

    Extended Family

    An extended family includes two or more adults from different generations of a family who share a household. It consists of more than parents and children; it may be a family that includes parents, children, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, foster children, etc. The extended family may live together for many reasons, such as to help raise children, support an ill relative, or help with finances.

    Blended Family

    In a blended or step family, one or both partners have been married before. One or both of them have children from their previous marriages. They decide to remarry, and they form a new blended family that includes children from one or both of their first households.

    Childless Family

    A childless family exists when married people choose not to have children.

Family Group

A family group is a number of unrelated people who live together in a common facility or place, such as a senior citizen's complex, a group home, or a boarding school. Because they live together, sharing meals, activities, and experiences, they feel like a family to each other.

Canadian families have shown changes over the past 50 years.

Each person has a very different looking family. Some families are very small, while others are very large. Your family can include different members such as:

    parents – mothers, fathers, stepmothers, stepfathers, and legal guardians

    siblings – brothers and sisters, stepbrothers and stepsisters, half brothers and half sisters

    grandparents – your mother's parents and/or stepparents or your father's parents and/or stepparents

    aunts – your mother's or father's sister(s)

    uncles – your mother's or father's brother(s)

    nieces – your brother's or sister's female children

    nephews  –  your brother's or sister's male children

    cousins – your aunt and uncle's children

Digging Deeper!