If the recent preliminary report of the census-2011 is anything to go by, joint families, one of unique characteristics of oriental society, are breaking down in Nepal, resulting in the rise of nuclear families.[break]
“The long-cherished culture of joint families is clearly on the verge of collapse,” says Dr Padam Khatiwada, a demographer. “The last decade has witnessed a rise of nuclear families.”
Shrinking family sizes
The new census report puts Nepal´s average household size at 4.70. In simple terms, every Nepali family has an average of 4-5 members. In urban area, the average household size has further shrunk to 4.05.
Ten years ago, Nepal´s average household size was 5.44. This is the first time that Nepal´s average household size has declined below five. For the four consecutive decades, from 1971 to 2001, Nepal had maintained an average household size of more than 5.3.
More interestingly, Kathmandu, the only metropolitan city of Nepal, has an average household size of just 3.71. This clearly shows that the Kathmandu society consists of more nuclear families than elsewhere in the country.
“If you look at a particular household size of Kathmandu, you can observe the emergence of a new trend here,” says Dr Rudra Suwal, director, Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
“Until a decade ago, Kathmandu had a significant number of joint families. Today, there are only father, mother and two children in most of families in this city.”
Unlike in Kathmandu, several districts in Nepal´s Tarai, mostly inhabited by Muslim communities, which are averse to family planning despite growing awareness, still have high average household sizes. Districts like Rautahat, Bara and Kapilvastu have average household sizes of over six. Rautahat has the largest household size of 6.33.
This clearly reasserts the fact that the trend of nuclear families has a lot to do with individualism. “The level of individualism, which is an intrinsic characteristic of developed societies, is higher in Kathmandu than anywhere else in the country,” says Dr Khatiwada, adding, “This is why Kathmandu has the strikingly lowest average household size.”
Over the last 10 years, the number of households has increased to 5.6 million in Nepal. In the previous census-2011, the number of households was just 4.4 million. The past decade has witnessed an increment of almost 23 per cent in the number of Nepal´s households.
The decadal change in the number of households appears much faster in comparison to the decadal growth rate of Nepal´s population. In the last 10 years, Nepal´s population has increased only by 14.99 percent.
Driving factors
Dr Krishna Bhattachan, one of Nepal´s outspoken sociologists, does not really believe in the statistics of the CBS. “I have always termed the CBS report as unreliable,” says Dr Bhattachan. “The CBS has further lost its credibility this time around. Enumerators mobilized by the CBS did not count many people. They did not come to my house.”
In spite of not fully trusting the CBS report, Dr Bhattachan does not disagree with the rising phenomenon of nuclear families in Nepal. “I have closely observed that joint families are fast disintegrating. The rise of nuclear families is the order of the day,” Dr Bhattachan says.
So, what really led to the rise of nuclear families? What really turned the concept of joint families into a myth? Dr Bhattachan says, “Several factors like urbanization, migration, education, imitation of western values and declining fertility rates have led to this new trend.”
As per the recent report of National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS)-2011, every Nepali woman gives birth to an average of just 2.6 babies, today. And, almost two million people have migrated to foreign countries. These two factors have clearly shrunk family sizes.
“Those who have migrated to foreign countries, especially to the west, have learned western values of individualism and freedom,” Dr Bhattachan says. “They love to live in smaller families. Therefore, the ages-old concept of an extended family, which consists of grandfathers, grandmothers, uncles, aunts and nieces, is now in peril.”
According to Dr Bhattachan, Nepali society started flirting with the idea of nuclear families after 1950 when Nepal opened up to the western world. The end of a dark political era in 1990 further exposed Nepali people to western values of financial independence, free-wheeling life and individualism. The new census report, regarding household size, is nothing but a manifestation of Nepali society´s affairs with the concept of nuclear families.
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