Examine the view that the nuclear family did not exist in Britain before industrialisation.

Peter Laslett studied the family size in pre-industrialised England between 1564 and 1821, and found that only 10% of households contained kin beyond the nuclear family. He provides evidence that indicates that the large extended family was relatively uncommon. Laslett suggests that the nuclear family household may have been characteristic of much of northwest Europe, though not other parts of Europe. He argues that this may have been an important factor encouraging the process of industrialisation. The prior existence of nuclear families with a greater capacity for geographical mobility may have facilitated the movement of workers to the urban areas, an important aspect of the industrial revolution.

Michael Anderson studied the effects of industrialisation on families, arguing that extended families did not begin to disappear during industrialisation. He found that 23% of households contained kin other than the nuclear family. He suggests that the process of industrialisation may have strengthened the need for reliance on the extended family. Prior to the modern welfare state the family provided a home for parentless children, a means of sharing the cost of accommodation, a source of information about jobs and a means of financial support in sickness, employment, and old age.

Talcott Parsons believed that in industrial societies this extended family system is no longer needed. He suggests reasons for this; the essential functions of the family have been carried out by other agencies such as the welfare state. Nuclear families can move to other places and are not tied down to their jobs. Also, children are more likely to achieve status by themselves and not follow in their parent's occupations. Parsons believe that in pre-industrialized society, an extended family system carried out all the functions of the family because there were a lot of family members available to do the jobs.

It is suggested that the nuclear family existed in Britain before industrialisation as life expectancy was short and only two generations lived at once. Both Lasett and Parsons believed that the family in the pre-industrial societies was mainly the extended family that existed. But after industrialization it is mainly the nuclear family that exists whereas Anderson believes that the extended family still is the main family that exists.