The big Indian family breaks up, nuclear homes the trend

The big Indian joint family with uncles, aunts and cousins living under one roof seems to be a thing of the past in the Capital.

The big Indian joint family with uncles, aunts and cousins living under one roof seems to be a thing of the past in the Capital.

Most households in Delhi comprise nuclear families with at most married couples living with their parents.

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According to the census report of Delhi 2011, the largest number of households — 69.5% — have only one married couple. At 17.1%, houses with two married couples are a distant second, and houses with more than two married couples are minuscule.

Going by household size, most families in Delhi have six to eight members (25.6%), followed closely by four member families (24%). This means that half of houses in Delhi comprise of a married couple, their children and parents or one married couple and their children.

The number of households with more than nine members, which are found in a joint family set up, is only 5.9%.

Anand Kumar, professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that the metropolis might not have very small nuclear families as most Delhiites prefer to stay with their parents even after getting married.

“Individuals prefer to live with their family more for survival and that is why even when dependents become grown ups, they just add another room to the house,” he said.