Family structure as a barrier to progress

Family structure may present a barrier to progress either in the extended or nuclear form. The extended family in particular represents a community with affiliations that are not in accordance with those of industrialized society where allegiance tends to be more towards a company, trade union, national, regional or cooperative group. The nuclear family may appear to fit better into this pattern, but a social lag between attitudes and ideas of parents and those promulgated by the state or industry constitutes a challenge to parental authority and may produce youth problems of various kinds and general social disorganization. Equally the isolation of the nuclear family unit is not ideal for the integration of young people or their parents into society as a whole.