ABSTRACT
The continuation of the life process and the recreation of community requires that certain instrumental functions be performed. Many of these functions are family functions. Members of society enter life through families and are trained to take a place in society as adults through families. Thus the family is one of the most important institutions in society. Society provides an abundance of profamily rhetoric. A definition of “family” for the purpose of developing family policy should be flexible and inclusive rather than rigid and exclusionary. From an instrumental standpoint, any definition of what a family is ought to relate to what a family does. The economic functions of families include sharing of income and expenses, providing economies of scale in purchasing groceries, and providing for one another’s material needs. A factor underlying all the others that limit the ability of families to function effectively is that society has historically defined the family as the patriarchal nuclear family.
