ABSTRACT
The members of the nuclear family in any society are spouses and immature children. The children have neither power, authority nor prestige in the society as a whole apart from their parents. In contrast to parents and children neither spouse in the nuclear family is, by definition, dependent on the other. It will, therefore, be theoretically possible for both spouses to engage in different occupations and to occupy different positions in the system of stratification. The separation of family and economy is seen by functionalists, therefore, to favour a division of labour within family and the activities of the family to favour the adoption by the woman of the family-oriented role. Litwak implies that he accepts that resocialisation of individual members of an elementary family through mobility would constitute a real barrier to extended family communication. The family is seen as a natural group determined by its biological functions, to which (in human society) a cultural function has been added.
