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A nuclear family or elementary family is a family group consisting of a pair of adults and their children. This is in contrast to a single-parent family, to the larger extended family, and to a family with more than two parents. Nuclear families typically centre on a married couple;〔 the nuclear family may have any number of children. There are differences in definition among observers; some definitions allow only biological children that are full-blood siblings,〔(Living Arrangements of Children )〕 while others allow for a stepparent and any mix of dependent children including stepchildren and adopted children.〔(Family Structure and Children’s Health in the United States: Findings From the National Health Interview Survey, 2001–2007 )〕 Family structures of one married couple and their children were present in Western Europe and New England in the 17th century, influenced by church and theocratic governments. With the emergence of proto-industrialization and early capitalism, the nuclear family became a financially viable social unit.〔Traditions and Encounters: A Brief Global History (New York: McGraw Hill, 2008).〕 The term ''nuclear family'' first appeared in the early twentieth century. Alternative definitions have evolved to include family units headed by same-sex parents,〔 and perhaps additional adult relatives who take on a cohabiting parental role;〔"Strictly, a nuclear or elementary or conjugal family consists merely of parents and children, though it often includes one or two other relatives as well, for example, a widowed parent or unmarried sibling of one or other spouse." (Sloan Work and Family Research Network ), citing Parkin, R. (1997). Kinship: An introduction to basic concepts. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Retrieved April 18, 2012.〕 in this latter case it also receives the name of conjugal family.〔 The concept that a narrowly defined nuclear family is central to stability in modern society has been promoted by familialists who are social conservatives in the United States, and has been challenged as historically and sociologically inadequate to describe the complexity of actual family relations.〔DePaulo, B. and Milardo, R. (2011). ("Interview: Beyond the Nuclear Family" ).〕 ==Usage of the term== Merriam-Webster dates the term back to 1947,〔Merriam-Webster Online. ("Definition of nuclear family" ).〕 while the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' has a reference to the term from 1925; thus it is relatively new, although nuclear family structures themselves date back thousands of years.〔Grief, Avner (2005). ("Family Structure, Institutions, and Growth: The Origin and Implications of Western Corporatism" ).〕〔Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (2006). ("Types of marriages in the Bible, and today" ).〕 The term ''nuclear'' is used in its general meaning referring to a central entity or "nucleus" around which others collect. In its most common usage, the term ''nuclear family'' refers to a household consisting of a father, a mother and their children〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Nuclear family - Definition and pronunciation )〕 all in one household dwelling.〔 George Murdock, an observer of families, offered an early description: Many individuals are part of two nuclear families in their lives: the family of origin in which they are offspring, and the family of procreation in which they are a parent. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nuclear family」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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