In discussing the question of the nuclear family in present day UK society it is worthwhile to define the points of reference used. The unit of two heterosexual adults and their children living as one house -hold defines this. That this blue print is seen to be a well established and widely adopted is irrefutable, it is its standing as the norm and an ideal that will be discussed.

Murdoch states that the family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults. " The nuclear family is a universal human social grouping, either as a sole prevailing form or as the basic unit from which more complex forms are compounded, it exists as a distinct...