The Nuclear Family In Canada

The nuclear family is fundamentally defined as “a family structure or household composed of a couple and their children” (Kimmel 388). Stemming from a passé way of thinking that was first popularized in the 1950’s and 1960’s by advertisements and television shows, the nuclear family brought forth a notion that it was the male’s role to provide and protect the family whereas the woman’s role consisted of housework and motherhood. The concept of the nuclear family in Canada has undergone dramatic changes since colonialism to present day. Societal structural forces such as the industrialization era, technological advancements, feminist movements, and multiculturalism has modified the nuclear family to its present form. This paper will examine how the nuclear family is a socially constructed and historically specific institution, by drawing upon the notion of gender roles, in addition to its impact within the Canadian state.
Family values can be understood as traditional or culture values that are passed on from generation to generation within families. These values can pertain to the family’s moral standards, discipline, structure, attitudes and beliefs. They

As a primary institution, it carries with it the responsibility as an agent of socialization that possess the responsibility in ensuring social stability, implementing a set of family values, as well as playing a direct role in child rearing. When employing this perspective to the nuclear family, it allows us to examine how each individual within this family form is socialized with the notion of gender roles. The nuclear family ideology assigned different roles to men and women based on gendered lines. Placing focus on the way in each individual is given a gender role; the nuclear family displays the same characteristics as the process of socialization as it too causes a distinction of a male and female role within the family