Chapter 4: Changing Landscape of Indian Family

Indian families are undergoing a transition due to a combination of factors such as rapid urbanization, economic development, educational advancements and major global connect. The shift from traditional joint families to urban nuclear families, changing pattern of the size of families, transformed gender roles in the domestic sphere, rising educational and career aspirations and increased occupational choices, new technological and economic contributions collectively contribute to a new landscape for Indian families. While these changes bring about new forms and structures of modern Indian families, they also reflect the resilience of the conventional value system of Indian families in adapting to the demands of a rapidly changing world. This chapter outlines the changing dynamics of Indian families in the 21st century. Changes in marriages and their influence on family making have been discussed with a special focus on inter-caste and intra-caste marriages and modern families. In urban India, age at marriage is also discussed in the background of formation of families. This chapter provides a discussion on changed gender roles and hierarchies within families. This chapter also highlights separation and divorce which led to single-parent families and broken families in Indian society.