The idea of the nuclear family (a married couple with two children) was the model to aspire to around the middle of the twentieth century. It began after family structures shifted away from large, extended families with many children and relatives who contributed their labour to a family business.

Instead, children from those larger families left home with dreams of economic independence. In their new surroundings, single people would pair up, get married, have a couple of kids, and buy a home to settle down in. In a nuclear family, it was typical for men to earn income and for women to stay home raising children. Today’s nuclear family often sees both parents working to support the family, focusing on shared responsibilities to raise children together in a family home.