What’s giving rise to more nuclear families in rural Bangladesh?

As a social institution, the family guides human behaviour and builds the foundation for social norms and values for individuals. Historically, the Bengali people used to live in the compound family. However, the culture of living in the extended family in this region has changed over time. The number of joint families is on the decline as a result of various socio-economic factors. For the time being, living in a nuclear family is a usual practice in urban areas. Interestingly, a similar inclination towards the nuclear family has recently emerged as a prevailing phenomenon in Bangladesh's rural areas. As per the 2022 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HEIS), the average household size in rural areas has decreased from 4.53 in 2010 to 4.30 in 2022. This shift indicates a notable change in the tradition of the joint family in rural Bangladesh over the years.
A nuclear family comprises parents and their children residing together, whereas a joint or compound family includes multiple generations sharing a house, such as grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Modernisation and global trends drive the transformation of extended families into nuclear ones in urban areas. However, various factors play a role in altering the traditional family structure in the villages of Bangladesh.
The economic challenges faced by rural residents constitute a substantial factor in undermining the tradition of extended families in rural areas. The majority of individuals there engage in agricultural and informal activities, yielding comparatively lower incomes. Moreover, many rural inhabitants experience seasonal unemployment. According to the HEIS 2022, the average monthly household income stands at Tk 26,163 in rural regions, while monthly household expenditures amount to Tk 26,842. Also, the ongoing increase in the prices of essential goods impedes them from meeting basic needs.
The economic disparity, compounded by persistent inflationary pressure, inclines them towards the nuclear family. This results in the negligence and isolation of the older members of a family. I want to share my own experience regarding.
In the previous year, I worked on a research project focused on social protection programmes in the Debiganj Upazila of Panchagarh. While collecting household data, I discovered that a significant number of old-age parents in the area were living separately from their sons. When questioned about the reasons behind their sons' neglect, they justified it by explaining that their sons earned insufficient income to fulfil the needs of a large family.
The diminishing trend of extended families in rural areas is also attributed to the enhanced financial well-being of certain households. Presently, many families in rural areas can afford to maintain a standard lifestyle in urban areas. Consequently, they have reasons to migrate to neighbouring or big cities, driven by the desire to provide improved educational and living opportunities for their children. This substantial migration from villages to urban areas is grounding the collapse of joint families in the villages.
The assumptions of the Lewis Dual-sector Model find relevance in a developing nation like Bangladesh. Here, the traditional agricultural sector is characterised by surplus labour, low wages, and low productivity. Due to the wage differential between the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, surplus and unemployed workers in rural areas often shift to urban and industrial areas like Dhaka, Narayanganj, Chattogram, Gazipur, etc. These individuals move to cities along with their spouses and children, leaving other family members behind in the village. In this way, many joint families in rural areas have turned into nuclear ones.
Furthermore, the existence of compound families has lost its place in rural societies due to ignorance and a lack of ethical consciousness. As a result, many people in rural areas, lacking moral guidance, do not consider the act of separating from their elderly parents as a moral transgression.
Yet, the proliferation of nuclear families in rural areas is not without consequences. Bangladesh is a country with a small area and limited natural resources. A thousand acres of agricultural land have already been lost in constructing new houses. The ever-increasing number of nuclear families poses challenges for Bangladesh in accommodating the newly formed nuclear families. Additionally, isolated elderly individuals in rural areas find it challenging to navigate life without external assistance. Furthermore, children, growing up in a nuclear family, are deprived of a conducive environment for proper socialisation. Also, the head of a nuclear family needs to bear the weight of responsibilities alone.
In the modern era, the breakdown of joint families is at times inevitable for various socio-economic reasons. However, it is important to take the trend of increasing nuclear families in rural regions seriously, given its association with numerous shortcomings. The creation of employment opportunities to improve the economic condition of rural people is required for sustaining extended families. Additionally, the government must emphasise the effective enforcement of laws to establish social justice. There is also a need for widespread education to instil integrity and moral values among rural residents. More importantly, implementing social awareness programmes to highlight the drawbacks of the nuclear family is crucial in this regard.
Muhammad Raihan Uddin is a research associate at Bangladesh Institute of Governance and Management (BIGM). He can be reached at raihan.uddin@bigm.edu.bd
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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