Family

From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change

To read about a family in taxonomy click here.

A family is a group of people who live together. They share the housework and take care of one another.

[change] Types of families

Three types of family are: nuclear family, single-parent family and extended family.

A nuclear family is made up of father, mother and one or more children living together.

A single-parent family is one where either the mother or father is caring for the children in the family.

(Both the "nuclear family" and the "single-parent family" are also called the "immediate family".)

Extended family means father, mother, children, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews. In most cases in the United States the extended family no longer lives in the same place, but in many countries including China and India, extended families traditionally live together.

[change] Divorce and families

Sometimes there is a divorce, and a family is split between the husband and the wife. A judge will decide if and when children live with their mother or father.

If the parents re-marry, the children of their new husband or wife are their stepchildren. "Step-" can be put before any relation to show it is from another marriage. If there are children in the new marriage, children from a former marriage are called half-brothers or half-sisters, since they are "half" related.