Nuclear family & Extended family -Which one is better

In history, Vietnamese people have a tradition of living in an extended family, usually with 3 to 4 generations living in the same house. A typical extended family include: grandparents, parents, children, and even some families have great-grandparents.

In my view, living in a multi-generational family gives some advantages to members.
First, a multi-generational family often has the bonding between generations. Because everyone lives together in the same house, spend their free time together and witness each other’s daily life, everyone can easily understand each other. For example, in the traditional Vietnamese family, everyone often eats dinner together, and during meals, they share with each other about what happens during the day.
Second, in multi-generation families, every member can share housework with each other. The elder can do some light work, while the heavy things the descendants will do. For example, the elder can take care of the garden, clean tables and chairs, buy food, or whatever they can do without affecting their health. The remaining things, their descendants have to do.
Third, when living in a traditional family, descendants can learn a lot of experiences and life skills of the seniors. In fact, a lot of knowledge, which everyone should know, doesn’t appear in books or schools, and the fastest way to know it is to ask the elder. Before, when my grandparents were in business, they taught me how to talk so that customers were willing to pay. This is really a useful experience for my future work.

On the other hand, living in a traditional family also brings a lot of space inconveniences for members, and above all, the gap between generations should make a lot of difference in lifestyle and psychology. Therefore, in recent years, the trend of nuclear families has become more popular.
First, nuclear families allow more privacy for each family member. With couples, they can have space to share with each other, making their relationship sustainable and stable. Like my best friend, she and her husband had a conflict when they were with her husband’s family. Until they decide to live in their own house, they have more time to talk, share with each other about finance and work, so that they can resolve conflicts, and be happier.
In addition, with the nuclear family, the impact on each other’s life will be less. This promotes children’s sense of independence. They can easily assert themselves, and they can afford to convince their parents about everything without any elders involved. Even when living in a nuclear family, children have to do more of their own things, such as self-cleaning and arranging personal belongings.
Moreover, a nuclear family will have fewer conflicts than a traditional family. Due to fewer people, opposite personalities will be less, so yielding will be easier. (Obviously, it is easier to follow the needs of 2 to 4 people than to meet the interests of nearly 10 people.)

In conclusion, no family type is perfect. The downside of one type is the advantage of the other and vice versa. Therefore, consider and discuss with your family to make decisions that are appropriate for everyone in the family.