NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 7, 2011: India’s tradition of one giant extended family living under the same roof is breaking down, with 90 per cent of people in the capital now living in western-style nuclear families. The large ‘joint family’ of brothers living together with children, daughters-in-law and grandchildren is splitting up, according to a government survey in New Delhi.
The findings reflect a revolution in family life and the growing independence of the country’s emerging middle class. More young professionals are moving away to new jobs and new lives in India’s booming cities, and the survey found that only 10 per cent of the capital’s population now lived in large family groups. The study showed only 8.4 per cent of homes housed two related married couples, and just 1.7 per cent had three related couples or more living together.
The breakdown of traditional patterns mirrors that of postwar Britain, but the impact is likely to be more keenly felt, as the ‘Hindu Undivided Family’ is recognized in law and is the basic unit of many of the country’s leading business conglomerates.