It is quite separate from genealogy, although it often draws on the same primary sources such as censuses and family records. It emphasizes demographic patterns and public policy. The trend was especially pronounced in the U.S. The history of the family emerged as a separate field of history in the 1970s, with close ties to anthropology and sociology.

The Latin word domus meant both 'family' and 'household'.) (In Latin, familia - the source of the English-language word 'family' - meant 'household' or 'slave staff'. A co-residential group that makes up a household may share general survival-goals and a residence, but may not fulfill the varied and sometimes ambiguous requirements for the definition of a family. Definition of family Ĭo-residence and organization by kinship are both important in the development of the concept of the family. The study of family history has shown that family systems are flexible, culturally diverse and adaptive to ecological and economical conditions. For example, sociological, ecological or economical perspectives are used to view the interrelationships between the individual, their relatives, and the historical time.

Research on the history of the family crosses disciplines and cultures, aiming to understand the structure and function of the family from many viewpoints. The family has a universal and basic role in all societies.

The history of the family is a branch of social history that concerns the sociocultural evolution of kinship groups from prehistoric to modern times.

Engels origin of the family