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55 Reasons Family Is Important

John Spacey, May 15, 2023

A family is a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood or adoption. This is a universal feature of societies that serves as an important type of social and economic unit. Families are also important to each other as they raise children and provide a great depth of emotional and social support. The following are common reasons that families are important. Here it can be noted that not all families provide all of these functions. It can also be noted that families can still have a great deal of value to each other even if they are imperfect.

Access to experienced advice from older generations	Allows for calculated risk taking by providing support in failure
Bringing up children	Building up a sense of pride and confidence
Celebration of holidays	Celebration of milestones, achievements and special occasions
Connections to extended family	Creative expression in the home such as art
Development of emotional awareness	Disciplinary role in teaching children about consequences
Education support such as homework help	Efficiency of households such as sharing resources
Emotional support	Encouragement
Experience with cooperation and collaboration	Family arguments help to build conflict resolution skills
Family bonding and togetherness to develop emotional depth	Family businesses are a major economic force on a global basis
Family interactions build up cultural capital	Family participation in the community such as attending community events together
Family roles create a positive example of responsibility and accountability	Financial support
Games and ways to enjoy time with others	Health and well-being support
Language learning	Leveraging family relationships
Life experiences such as travel or visiting a museum	Moral and ethical values and advice
Nurturing and caregiving	Passes on culture such as norms
Passing knowledge from one generation to the next	Playing together contributes to social and cognitive development
Provide a safe and secure environment	Provides a sense of meaning and purpose
Provides a sense of responsibility	Provides a sense that others rely upon you
Provides stability	Rare source of unconditional love
Reading together to build literacy	Reinforcing appropriate behavior in children
Role models	Sense of belonging
Sense of continuity with the past	Sense of history and heritage
Sense of identity	Setting rules and expectations
Sharing of workloads	Social meals and the culture of dining
Socialization	Source of traditions
Sustaining wealth and financial security over generations	Teaching behaviors such as manners and respect
Teaching financial literacy	Teaching life skills such as cooking
Teaching things about life such as philosophies

Families are the primary economic force on a global basis that own most wealth.

Families are one of the main ways that knowledge, traditions, language and culture are transmitted across generations.

Families are institutions meaning that they are enduring features of society that provide stability.

Families can create significant efficiencies by sharing resources such as housing and performing specialized roles.

Families involve much emotional complexity that can be difficult to manage. For example, parents who offer both unconditional love and the discipline that they know their children need.