lexis4u: Families Classification

Interlinked Thematic Vocabulary Unit Nº 8 v.7

Nuclear Family

nuclear family / family unit|n| the nuclear family or elementary family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a pair of adults and their children.
"Having an intact nuclear family does not guarantee that a child will turn out well."
"The family structure also changed from a large, multi-generation family to a nuclear family."
"This might be a nuclear family, consisting of a couple living alone with or without children."
"I've seen how drug use is directly responsible for the erosion of the family unit."
single parent family / one parent family |n| family in wich there is only one parent.
"Single-parent families are much more common these days."
"Many children are now born into or raised in one-parent families."
joint family / blended family / assembled family |n| a family in which parents and their children with their families live together and are considered as a simple unit.
multi-ethnic family |n| family whose parents come from different ethnic backgrounds.
"In our class we have children of all different religious and ethnic backgrounds."

extended family |n| a family group which includes relatives such as uncles, aunts, and grandparents, as well as parents, children, and brothers and sisters.
"My extended family usually gets together at holidays."
"The pregnant woman in such a community has the support of all the womenfolk in her extended family."
"It was difficult to maintain contact with members of his extended family."
immediate family |n| means: spouse or spouse equivalent, parent, child, brother, sister, stepparent, stepchild, stepbrother or stepsister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, daughter- in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, grandparent or grandchild.
family in-law |adj| family related by marriage.
step family |n| family where different generations lived together.

adoptive family |n| a family whose members are not related by blood.
"They help find emotionally damaged children placements with adoptive families."
foster family |n| the family of a fosterling.
"They are found in birth, adoptive, blended, and foster families, and in kinship care."

household |n| all the people in a family or group who live together in a house.
“The head of the household.”
“Households with more than two children.”s
menage |n| a domestic establishment; household.