Qualitative study on evolving roles of gender in Indian urban nuclear families

Abstract

Indian society has been transitioning from a system of joint families to nuclear families from late 80s.This shift brings with it changes in individual responsibilities and newer challenges for husband and wife. We can see this from the evolving interpersonal relationships due to reduced family sizes. The modern 21st-century nuclear family mostly comprises of a husband, wife and couple of kids. With this decentralisation, the changes become imperative due to both husband and wife in the family working as against nuclear families of the early 1990s where men were the sole breadwinners. Thus, due to this changing family dynamics, we have seen a shift towards interchangeable roles, making the roles less aligned to a particular gender type (Growing trends of men involved in household work). This is also accompanied by a change in the power structure of the family members, which we opine is a step towards gender inclusivity starting from the home itself. Unlike before, women too have a say in the decision-making process, which is heading towards an equitable distribution of power between both genders in the urban Indian nuclear families.