Family has no single form in nowhere in the world. If you take ten families in the same neighborhood, they will all be ten different. They can range from families with very narrow family-values and strict rules to families that are very transparent, democratic and progressive. They can range from families that are very patriarchal to families that practice gender-equity and equal partnership. The term 'family' has never been uniform in all over the world. Therefore, generalized statements about the institution of "family" will be very much inaccurate. It is only possible that there may be some commonality in each society.
Unlike in the past, in our contemporary world, the family is not considered as constituted of certain relationships in a certain form. There can be families that constituted under a marriage contract between a man and a woman; there can be families where a man and a woman live together without a formal marriage contract; In both of the above categories, one can find childfree families by choice; families of same-sex partners who are married or cohabiting; single parent families who have children by choice; and those pet-parented families. Although these may not be considered families within religions, such families exist and are facts in the society.
In addition to these, one can find interracial families, and inter-religious/linguistic/cultural families.
People of the new era seem to prefer to form base groups that are loving communities that provide mutual support and acceptance, by free choice rather than blood ties.
Partnership in earlier families seemed often limited to sexual intimacy. Families that lacked partnership, equality, collective responsibility, empathy, or even basic love were bound to get vanished. Respect was the first casualty in such families. Prophets of every time and place in every country had spoken out against it.
Things have changed a lot. I'm not saying that everything has become rosy. It is said that after Corona pandemic, the number of men spending time with their children has increased by 58%. It has become a generally accepted thing that women are also partners in running the family. Equal partnership in children's formation, running the house, and household chores has increased.
Mutually respectful discussions are necessary in families. Questions like 'What do we want from life? How can we help each other to achieve that?' have to be raised and discussed. Through discussions and enhanced communication, partners should set and define common goals. If we can collectively find out how we can achieve these goals together, things will be easier.
Regardless of the type of family or basic units of society, there must be love and acceptance; emotional and social support; flexibility in structure and roles; equal partnership; deep communication; and involving also children in decision-making. These are all changes that new times demand from us.
