definitions

• family


  a group of people related by kinship ties
• household


  one person living alone or a group of people who live at the same address and share living arrangements
• monogamy


  two individuals
• serial monogamy


  series of monogamous marriages
• arranged marriage


  marriages arranged by parents to match their children with partners of similar faiths and religions
• civil partnership 


  legal recognition to relationships of same sex couples
• polygamy


  marriage to more than one person at a time
• polygyny


  one husband with two or more wives
• polyandry


  one wife with two or more husbands
• nuclear family


  two generations - parents and children - living in the same household
• extended family


  all kin including and beyond the nuclear family
• classic extended family


  extended family sharing the same household or living near eachother
• modified extended family


  extended family living far apart but keeping in touch by phone and the internet
• beanpole family


  multi-generation extended family which is long and thin, with few aunts, uncles and cousins reflecting fewer children being born in each generation but people living longer
• patriarchal family


  authority held by males
• matriarchal family


  authority held by females
• symmetrical family


  authority and household tasks shared by male and female partners
• reconstituted or blended family


  one or both partners previously married, with children of previous relationships
• lone parent family


  lone parent with dependant children, most commonly after divorce or separation
• gay or lesbian family


  same sex couple living together with children
• single person household


  individual living alone