family

In biological classification, a group of related genera (see genus). Family names are not printed in italic (unlike genus and species names), and by convention they all have the ending -idae (animals) or -aceae (plants and fungi). For example, the genera of hummingbirds are grouped in the hummingbird family, Trochilidae. Related families are grouped together in an order.

family

Group of people related to each other by blood or by marriage. Families are usually described as either extended (a large group of relations living together or in close contact with each other) or nuclear (a family consisting of two parents and their children).

In some societies an extended family consists of a large group of people of different generations closely or distantly related, depending on each other for economic support and security. In other societies the extended family is split into small units, with members living alone or in nuclear families. In such societies, the one-parent family results from the separation of parents or the death of one parent.

Modern US families A US Census Bureau report was released in April 2001, based on a survey of 37,000 households in 1996. 56% of children lived with their two biological parents, up 5% on 1991. 78% of children were being raised by two parents, up 8% on 1991.