The joint family is also known as ‘undivided family’ and sometimes as ‘extended family’. It normally consists of members who at least belong to three generations: husband and wife, their married and unmarried children; and their married as well as unmarried grandchildren.
The joint family system constituted the basic social institution in many traditional societies, particularly in the Eastern societies. In India, this system prevailed among the Hindus as well as non-Hindus.
characteristics:
Depth of Generations:
The joint family consists of people of three or more generations including at least grandparents, parents and children. Sometimes, other kith and kin such as uncles, aunts, cousins and great grandsons also live in the joint family itself.
2. Common Roof:
Members of the joint family normally reside together under the same house­hold. Due to the scarcity of accommodation or due to educational and employment problems, mem­bers of the joint family may reside separately. Still, they try to retain regular contacts and the feeling of belonging to the same family.
3. Common Kitchen:
Members eat the food prepared jointly at the common kitchen. Normally, the eldest female member of the family supervises the work at the kitchen. In the patriarchal joint families, women serve the food to men at first and take their meals afterwards.
4. Common Worship:
The Hindu joint family derives its strength from religion. Hence, it is associated with various religious rituals and practices. Every family may have its own deity of ‘Kula devata’ and its own religious tradition. Members of the family take part in common worship, rites and ceremonies.
5. Common Property:
The members hold a common property. As Melley writes: the joint fam­ily “is a co-operative institution similar to a joint stock company in which there is a joint property”. The head of the family manages the family property like a trustee. The total earnings of the members are pooled into a family treasury and family expenses are met with out of that,
6. Exercise of Authority:
In the patriarchal joint family usually the eldest male member exer­cises authority. The super-ordination of the eldest member and the subordination of all the other members to him is a keynote of the joint family. His commands are normally obeyed by others. As opposed to it, in the matriarchal joint family the eldest female member in theory exercises the su­preme authority.
7. Arranged Marriages:
In the joint family, the head considers it as his privilege to arrange the marriages of the members. The individual’s right to select his/her life-partner is undermined. The younger members rarely challenge their decisions and arrangements. But now-a-days, the feelings of younger ones are being given due weightage.
8. Procreation:
The size of the joint family is by nature bigger. It is found to be associated with higher rate of production. It is so because in the past procreation was regarded as a religious duty. Members rarely practised birth control measures. But today the situation has changed.
9. Identification with obligations towards the Family:
The members tend to identify them­selves with their family. Every member has his own duties and obligations towards the family. The family in turn, protects the interests and promotes the welfare of all. The senior-most member of the family acts as the guide for other members.
10. Self-sufficiency:
There was a time when the joint family was mostly self-sufficient. It used to meet the economic, recreational, medical, educational and other needs of the members. The rural agricultural joint families were mostly self-reliant. But they can hardly depend on themselves today. No type of family is self-reliant that way today