The Hidden Challenges of Joint Families – What You Need to Know!

Many people of the different cultures are familiar with the idea of the joint family as it is considered to be traditional. A joint family is also one where there are more than two generations living in the same house though as sub standard as it may be, for instance grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts and children. 

However, this set up has its pros and cons such as to share the load and or responsibilities, and most of all a strong backup from the other half. Here in this blog, the various demerits of living in a joint family will be discussed keeping in mind the possible problematic aspects associated with joint families.

1. Lack of Privacy

I believe that living in a joint family has one major drawback people have little privacy. There are many members in the house hence it may be hard to get alone, or find a spare time when everyone is not around. As it has been mentioned in the previous section about the collective living and lifestyles of a join family, anything and everything is discussed and done in the presence of others.

Such lack of privacy can be a problem to the young couple in that they may need seclusion to feed and grow the love between them or to anyone who may need seclusion as a form of happiness.

In some circumstances, lack of privacy implies feeling of resentful and frustrated outbursts. Individuals may feel that their right of privacy has been violated and these influence family conflict. Also, the feeling of always being surrounded by people can be quite tiring and stressful, as one cannot find time to be alone and ‘switch off’.

2. Conflicts and Disagreements

The last but not often the least negative aspect of being in a joint family is that it harbors clashes and disagreements a little often than others. When people from different generations and each with his/her personality live together, misunderstandings on the issue of opinion and values are bound to occur. Owing to these differences, the members of the family are likely to be involved in a lot of quarrels and this may upset the relationships in the family.

For instance, there are religious people in a society, and there are ‘worldly’ people, there are women who subscribe to the stereotypical roles of a woman in society and then there are women with career oriented goals and aspirations. Such distinctions can cause parties within the family to be poles apart, and the resulting disputes can be rather challenging to solve. 

Moreover, conflicts on financial issues or distributions of assignments between the family members, or child rearing practices are other ways that contribute to worsening of family relations.

Sometimes these tensions can degenerate to an extent that the taking of the relationship to another level is not possible. Staying in such an environment is stressful and mentally tiring, and this can be detrimental to the mental health of people.

3. Financial Strain

Living in a joint family money is also an issue that can be of present problems since large families with limited money sources are customary. In most joint families one is able to contribute to the family basket and this is usually done collectively by all those with a source of income. This will sometimes help to have a steady flow of income but causes issues when the families expenses are more than their income.

For instance, whenever one or more members of the family are laid off or are out of work or experiencing financial hardships, then the entire family will be can be considered financially distressed. Also, different opinions concerning the funds utilization or the preservation may also result in increased family conflict.

Also, the financial responsibility of the family is considerably heavy esp when there are many members to provide for including old parents or many young children. This can lead to stress /anxiety as well being boxed into a corner as far as the financial situation is concerned.

4. Lack of Independence

Staying with a joint family may also restrict individual freedom especially to the junior members of the family. Thus, for example, taking into account that a joint family is characterized by egalitarian decision-making, the preferences or needs of a particular member may remain unfulfilled and ignored. This can in turn compromise one’s ability to make choices for oneself or even to walk towards self actualization.

For instance, youths in a joint family may hardly transverse their young, middle or old age without bowing to the pressure their seniors in the joint family in spite of known desire or dreams. Lack of independence can be quite frustrating along with the feeling of being ‘imprisoned’ so to speak.

Moreover, lest one offend someone or be seen as ‘difficult’, people will probably not express themselves and what they need. In the long run, this results in low self-esteem and therefore low self efficacy among women.

5. Responsibility Overload

In a joint family, for any work there is no concept of being allotted to single person rather it is done collectively. Yet it has certain positive implications as well, namely the problem of responsibility overload, which affects women mainly. This is the case despite the fact that majority of women in joint families are also employed, in which they have to do most of the housekeeping and child rearing or caregiving to the elderly members of the family.

Such an imbalance of roles can result in the individuals involved feeling drained or exhausted, resentful as well. Women end up complaining that all the chores are bestowed on them while men will feel that they are not pulling their weight around the house.

However, the need to achieve expectations of the family can be demanding especially for those with other tasks to attend to. This has ramifications of stress and general and overall poor health.

6. Limited Personal Growth

Therefore, living in a joint family is also a bar to self-development and growth. It is believed that one might be forced to abandon the dreams and goals in a joint family because the others will not accept certain choices.

For instance, a twenty- something year old who would wish to start a career in a given area not considered culturally acceptable may experience resistance from the family, who may wish that they pursued a normal line of business. In the same way, those who are intending to travel, to study in a foreign country, or to experiment with have to be afraid of having their family’s expectations which may limit their opportunities.

This can give rise to feelings of frustration and unfulfillment because there is no support for growth of the person. In the long run, this creates a culture of low morale and decreases the motivation and purpose of an employee.

7. Impact on Children

Children growing up in a joint family can also face some challenges as follows; On the one hand, they receive love and support from their relatives, on the other hand they may experience some difficulties for example, in communicating with parents or difficulties in determination of who is the authority figure regarding child rearing.

It’s very common to find kids being taught opposite things by two different family members in a joint family and hence inconsistency in child rearing. For instance parents have different perception about discipline or education as compared to grand parents which confuse the child.

Furthermore, those children, who live in a joint family, might feel that they have to listen to several heads of the family, which can cause great stress. This may affect their growth in the areas of emotional and psychological aspect and may have problems like anxiety or low self-esteem.

8. Interference in Personal Matters

A major vice of a joint family system is that one’s privacy is always being invaded by other family members. It is possible to live with one’s relatives and depend on them to intervene in one’s affairs and sometimes intrude on the affairs of others.

For instance, relatives may interfere in one’s affairs by giving advice or expressing unfavorable views on issues to do with love affairs, jobs, or child rearing. Even though the above advice is meant for the best, it is often considered as an encroachment into someone’s private life and may bring only frustration and/or resentment.

Furthermore, the frequent interference of other people in personal affairs leads to the impossibility of making decision independently or having one’s own personal space. This results in the loss of their personal life, whereby one is unable to regulate his/her own life, and this is very emotional.

9. Problems in the Transition to Today’s Life Styles

There are two basic ideas followed into a joint family; one that comes with tradition and the other with change and these are always conflicting to a certain measure. There is a clash of expectations because the young people may want to find a more modern way of living as opposed to the elderly members of the family.

For instance, there may be disagreements regarding the cultural norms that cut across the age brackets as far as the family is concerned such as the expectations of the elderly family members compared to the younger ones. This ends up fostering conflict and Strife within the family in the sense that nobody is able to effectively and willingly subscribe to their way of life.

On the negative side, the adherence to the traditional ways of functioning in a joint family hampers the freedom for innovations. This can be quite irritating to a person who would like to try something new or approach something in a different angle but is limited by the culture of the family.

Conclusion

In as much as people may highlight the benefits associated with a joint family, it is only right to consider the possible or potential demerits that go with living in such an environment. Some of the challenges that individuals may experience in a joint family include inadequate privacy, rivalry, problems finances, limited freedom, responsibility burden, and, limited personal development amongst others. 

These are some of the challenges that families face and requires families to embrace them and solve them for the benefits of multi-generation bond. In so doing, the potential for a harmonious environment is likely to be achieved in which all individual citizens are able to prosper.