the family exists so men can pass their private property onto their biological offspring, notably a son
Zaretsky
there is an ideological function of the family called the 'cult of private life'
this is the belief that we can only gain fulfillment from family life, which distracts attention from exploitation
Poulantzas
nuclear families are brainwashed into thinking capitalism is fair, which teaches lower generations how to conform and co-operate with the capitalist system