The nuclear family consists of two parents (typically one female, one male) and their dependent children all living together in one household. The idea of a nuclear family became the gold standard during the Industrial Revolution, while family has always been the center of American life, this new title and “guideline” has become the standard for the past two hundred years.

While the term itself has dropped in popularity, the standard is so common that many people don’t realize that there are alternatives. In many areas of the world the standard is to live with grandparents, other extended family, or to live with other families in shared homes.

In modern America 17.8% of the 23.1 million households are defined as a “nuclear family” this is a sharp decline from 40% in 1970 while 17.8% may seem like a low number up to 78% of children live in a nuclear family. What this shows is that while couples who have children stay in the traditional way, there is a growing number of adults who choose to live by themselves, have same-sex relationships, or have been in a divorce.

Many of these reasons are not controllable and the result of outside influences, such as losing a spouse, or needing to take care of an extended family member, things like these show that the nuclear family is not a necessary thing. Healthy families can exist outside of the nuclear family in many ways.