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Society, Management and Accounting

Family in Modern Society

Family, Marriage, Elderly, Disabled in Modern Society; Cyber Crime, Social Media Impact

Paper I · Unit 3 Section 3 of 12 0 PYQs 29 min
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Family in Modern Society

2.1 Types of Family

Type Characteristics Status in India
Joint/Extended Family 3+ generations; pooled resources; patriarchal authority Declining but persistent in rural/conservative communities
Nuclear Family Couple + unmarried children; emotionally intense; mobile Dominant in urban India (54.4% households, 2011)
Single-Parent Family One parent (usually mother) raising children Rising due to divorce, widowhood; ~12 million single-parent households
Reconstituted/Blended Family Step-parents, step-children after remarriage Increasing with rising divorce rates
Same-Sex Family Two partners of same gender Not legally recognised in India; Supriyo v. Union of India SC 2023 — declined to legalise same-sex marriage

2.2 Functions of Family (Sociological Perspectives)

Structural-functionalist view (Talcott Parsons): Family performs four irreplaceable functions:

  1. Socialisation of children into cultural norms and values.
  2. Personality stabilisation — emotional support and regulation for adults.
  3. Sexual regulation — channelling sexuality into socially approved form.
  4. Economic cooperation — division of labour within the household.

Conflict view (Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, 1884): The nuclear family is a bourgeois institution that controls women's sexuality to ensure legitimate heirs for property inheritance. Family = site of women's oppression.

Feminist view: The domestic sphere is a site of unpaid labour (cooking, childcare, eldercare) predominantly performed by women. National Time Use Survey (MOSPI, 2019): Women spend 7 hours/day on unpaid domestic work vs. men's 2.5 hours.

2.3 Changing Family Structures in India

Key changes since Independence:

  1. Declining average household size: From 5.3 (2001) to 4.9 (2011) — projected below 4 by 2030.
  2. Rising age at marriage: Women's median age at marriage rose from 19.3 years (2001) to 22.1 years (NFHS-5, 2019–21).
  3. Rising divorce rates: Total divorces in India: ~0.1 million/year (still extremely low by international standards — less than 1 per 1,000 married couples).
  4. Women's economic independence: Female labour force participation: 37% in 2022–23 (PLFS) — rising sharply from 23.3% in 2017–18.
  5. Increased love marriages: Share of inter-caste/love marriages rising slowly — 5.4% inter-caste, IHDS 2016.

2.4 Women and Family — Legal Protections

Law Year Key Provision
Hindu Marriage Act 1955 Conditions for valid Hindu marriage; grounds for divorce
Hindu Succession Act 1956 (amended 2005) Daughters = sons in coparcenary rights (2005 amendment)
Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 Bans giving/taking dowry; imprisonment up to 5 years
Protection of Women from DV Act 2005 Protection against domestic violence; right to shared household
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 Girls 18, boys 21; punishment for violations
POCSO Act 2012 Protects children from sexual offences; child-friendly courts