How Works The Joint Family System



The Joint family system is the oldest family system of India. In the days of the past, families used to be large and extended. The grandparents used to be at the head of the family. In Northern India, the system was patriarchal-with the male at the head of the family. In some areas in the south even today there is a matriarchal society with the woman at the head of the family. Even in Shillong and other places in the East, women run the family. The Joint family system has various advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that the family remains united. As all the brothers and sisters live together with their parents and their own families, there is a constant interaction between them. Whenever one person is sick or feeling unwell, he can never feel lonely while lying all alone in bed. There are many people who can take care of him. Children in a joint family can never get lonely. They have each other to play with. Their cousins are their friends and they never have to look to other families to make friends. Even the elders in the joint family can have each other's company. After spending a long day at work, when they come back home, they can all sit together and play cards or watch television or simply share their experiences during the day. They can seek each other's advice and in fact help and support each other in their work. Brothers can share all that they earn and this can make each one prosperous and materially adequate. The disadvantages of this system are that there is always the risk of too much interference from others in one's affairs. There is the threat of a lack of privacy because one is constantly being watched by one's relatives. If a couple wants to spend a holiday together with their own child it becomes difficult because they have to also consider the presence of the other members of the family. The spirit of competition can become quite strong and in case one brother is financially inferior to his other brother he can develop a complex about this. The children also could compare themselves with their cousins. Another thing is that the family sticks together so much that they lose out on the friendship of some outsiders who could otherwise prove to become very good friends too. Most people have opted for the nuclear family system now and the joint family is fast becoming a thing of the past.