6.2 Family

Definition: the kin group based on marriage, descent and adoption, providing the primary site of reproduction, socialization (Unit 4) and mutual care.Types:nuclear (conjugal pair + children); extended/joint (three generations, common property, household head — the South Asian ideal type); single-parent and grandparent-headed families — now structurally produced in Nepal by migration: the "left-behind" family (husband in the Gulf orMalaysia; wife, children and in-laws in the village) is a defining Nepali family form of the 21st century.Functions (Murdock's list, extended): sexual regulation; reproduction; socialization; economic cooperation (unit of production and consumption — historically the farm-firm); affection and care; ascription of status (name, caste, citizenship, inheritance).Nepali facts to cite: average household size just over four (2021 census) — the long nuclearisation trend; female-headed households rising (a quarter and more — largely migration- driven — a point where a "social problem" is also a headship statistic); inheritance reformed bylaw — equal daughters' inheritance rights recognised (the eleventh amendment of the Muluki Ain era, then fully in the 2074 Codes) — institutional change from outside a resistant norm.The sociological tension to discuss: between the family as haven (solidarity, care) and the family as power-structure (patriarchy, hierarchy of daughters-in-law, the site of most violence against women — Unit 7.4: law now intervenes inside the home, historically the most "private" institution).