I’ve seen a number of pieces like this that argue that the nuclear family is an aberration in history compared to the extended family. They are of course right,

I’ve seen a number of pieces like this that argue that the nuclear family is an aberration in history compared to the extended family. They are of course right, but almost inevitable fail to address the fact that the “nuclear” family is/was generally a part of those extended family structures. The reason it is called the “nuclear” family is the metaphor that the parents + child is the smallest divideable unit of family. The idea that nuclear family should exist in isolation is probably mistaken, but I arguments it shouldn’t exist at all completely uncompelling. The evidence I saw presented was more along the lines that the nuclear family is “necessary but not generally sufficient” rather than something to be completed supplanted by a new paradigm, at least in the case of those that chose/are able to have children.