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Unit 29: Family and Marriage in India: Forces of Change, Family in the Context of Care of the Child and the Aged

“that ancestral control/dominance, along with the other forms of pressure, which dictate whom Notes
they should marry and when.”
In a modern family, the relation between husband and wife should be viewed from a different
angle. Since the family based on agriculture was an economic arena, it required some kind of
leadership. Usually this responsibility was fulfilled by men. But in a modern urban family, the
need for leadership or control is not that great. Today, the husband and wife discuss things with
each-other and try to reach a mutual agreement.
The third aspect which demands attention is the comparatively instable structure of the modern
family. Thus in the modern urban families, there are more conflicts between the husband and wife,
compared to the earlier families, where the roles of husband and wife were marked. Various fac-
tors, including the depletion and end of economic and secured efforts of a family have increased
motivation for role struggle. Not only in the west, but in India too, the rising rate of divorce
cases amongst the urban families are an indication of the stress and pressure, these families are
burdened with.
The fourth aspect is the size of the modern families, which is comparatively smaller than the
agriculture based families. There are two prominent factors responsible for it. On one hand, be-
cause of the transfer of family to production, the big-sized family who used to work in the fields
as additional work force, has become spineless. On the other hand, the advancement in the birth
control techniques have made planned parenting possible.

Activities of Modern Family
The modern family has deserted the various traditional activities related to agriculture. We have
seen earlier that the responsibility to accomplish the activities of production have transferred
from family to economic arena, outside the periphery of home.
Similarly, education too, has stepped out of the confines of home. Various kinds of education
is being provided in schools. Earlier, it was never possible for any family to provide such
education to their children. With the rising trend of nursery schools and kindergartens, most of
the responsibility of a child’s primary education has now reached in the hands of the experts.
Along with that, the urban cities have facilitated children living in cramped houses, who were
deprived of playrounds, to play in lanes, roads, public parties and play grounds during holidays.
As a result of this, the children move away from the influence of parents and siblings. The fact
that the father, and in some cases, mother too, go out to work, has undoubtedly limited their role
in their children’s education.
To take care of the sick, old and unemployed people, earlier the family itself used to take care
of their needs. Now, taking care of them has become the prerogative of the hospitals, old age
homes, clinics or the state, which provides the social security efforts like old age pension, unem-
ployment fund in the interest of its citizens.
The recreational facilities are mostly available outside the sphere of the family. Cramped resi-
dential quarters, the high number of family members, the difficulty in bringing them together,
lack of these facilities at home, the development of comparatively cheaper facilities like theatre,
movies, easy availability of modern transport-all these are the factors which motivate family
members to step out of the periphery of home for recreational opportunities. Again, the basis of
age, obstructs the possible participation of the entire family as a unit.
In this way, deprived of most of the traditional activities, the modern family mainly plays three
roles, Macaivor and page refer to as the essential activities of family:
(i) Bearing children and nurturing them. But in this arena too, some ‘agencies’ like ‘Matri Sad-
an’ and ‘Ante Natal clinic’ have shouldered some of the family responsibilities.
(ii) Provide a regular base to satisfy the sexual urges of the couple. The Institution of marriage
not only provides them an opportunity to satiate their biological appelite, but also moti-
vates them to come out of this biological pleasure and deepen their mutual love.

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