ABSTRACT
The majority of villagers worked in agriculture until 1960, and the fact that one or other member of a family went to work in industry had little effect on a village household. Younger household members preferred not to be found in charge of farms when collectivization reached them, older people were left in charge of the farm, while the young provided the security of a wage. The major changes in the rural family's form and function date from 1960, when mass collectivization reached most villages and practically all farming families. The Imre K. family of Nemespecsely were nemes in pre-1848 terms and they are already to be found in the village in 1779 when registers were started. This family household is connected to several others in the village, where very similar patterns are found: very active plot farming, retired or semi-retired parents from the collective, and sons and daughters in non-agricultural employment in towns nearby.
