Some of the important Merits and the Demerits of Joint Family System in India are as follows:
In India, the joint family system has continued down the ages for various reasons. As we all know, a particular social institution continues to exist so long as it has a purpose to serve. It always responds to the social requirements of the times. It stagnates and finally withers away only when there is no proper leadership to direct it.
In the Indian context, the system continued due to a host of factors. First, our country was under foreign domination for several centuries. Secondly, the leadership, perhaps unimaginatively, believed in continuity for its own sake, rather than in change. Thirdly, there was a sort of indifferent passivity on the part of the leaders. It could, of course, be also due to the exhaustion of the will to act.
Be it as it may, let us now discuss the merits and the demerits of the system.
Merits of the Joint Family:
(1) Simple division of labour:
Joint family system enjoys all the advantages of a simple division of labour. Here the work is distributed among the members on the basis of age and sex keeping individual ability in view. In an agricultural economy much manpower is needed for sowing, ploughing, harvesting and also protecting crops from heat and wind. The male members are engaged in such work as furrowing, sowing and irrigation.
Children, old persons and women watch the crops in the field particularly during the harvesting period. In this way, the co-operation of all members helps to save money that would have otherwise been paid to outside labourers. Moreover, every member of the family is ensured of at least some food, clothing and shelter, which are very essential for a healthy and developed economy.
(2) Avoids fragmentation of land:
So far as the joint family is concerned, the property is held in common. As such it does away with the evils of subdivision and fragmentation of land and promotes scientific farming. It enjoys all the advantages of large scale production.
(3) Money saving device:
A joint family is advantageous from the economic standpoint. Since things are consumed in a large quantity, they can be procured at a cheap rate. Again so far as accommodation is concerned, the joint family saves money that would have otherwise been paid for establishing separate households. Besides, the family saves considerable amount of money by not employing outside labour.
(4) Insurance against odds:
Favouring the joint family system Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru has remarked that it is an insurance against difficult times. It provides social security to its members, especially to the old, the children, the insane, the widows, the physically handicapped and the helpless.
Further, the joint family plays an important role in providing much assistance and help at such time as pregnancy, sickness etc. Life of an individual in the joint family is properly looked after right from the cradle to the grave.
(5) Place of recreation:
The joint family is an ideal place for recreation. It is instrumental in creating a stimulating atmosphere through the cumulative effect of the lisping talk of the children, the expression of sisterly, brotherly and motherly love, the reproach of the elders and the fun and frolic of the other family members. In this way the joint family naturally acts as a veritable source of recreation with immunity from monotony and boredom.
(6) Satisfaction of basic needs:
Food, clothing and shelter are the basic needs of man. The joint family system caters to these basic needs of its members.
(7) Provides leisure:
So far as joint family system is concerned, work is shared by all the members on the basis of age, sex and experience. Hence they avail ample leisure.
(8) Social control:
The joint family acts as an agency of social control. The social control .exercised by the joint family is informal in nature. Under the constant vigilance of the elders, the undesirable and antisocial propensities of the youngsters are properly checked and thus they are not allowed to go astray. All members scrupulously observe family rules and regulations and respect the elders.
(9) Cradle of social virtues:
The joint family fosters good qualities among its members. They are taught discipline, patience, co-operation, obedience, generosity, selfless service etc. which are virtues of a social life and a real possession of every individual.
Dr. R. K. Mukherjee rightly observes, “The joint family system, based on the virtue of affection, produced that peculiar socioeconomic outlook in Indian economic organisation which contrasts so favorably with the aggressive individualism of the west.”
(10) Provides psychological security:
The joint family provides psychological security to its members. By attaching supreme importance to collective interests it arrests the growth of excessive individualism and promotes social solidarity.
(11) Co-operation and economy:
The joint family fosters co-operation and economy achieved by few other institutions. Cultural unity and associational feeling are markedly visible among the members.
(12) Socialism in wealth:
Joint family instills the socialistic spirit among the members. According to Jathar and Berry, everyone in a joint family earns according to his capabilities but obtains according to his need. In this way, in a joint family the socialistic ideal “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” is realized.
(13) Continuity of culture:
In a joint family, the younger members are immensely benefitted by the experiences of elders. The elders also guide the young members in developing joint family sentiment and broad social outlook. All these are potent factors in the continuance of cultural traditions.
This institution of joint family though of ancient origin has not only survived for its manifold virtues but has stimulated the social life. It has ensured the continuity of rich traditional value and culture.
Demerits of the Joint Family:
In the present context, the joint family system, for the most part, has lost its effectiveness. Some of its merits have turned out to be dysfunctional in certain respects. The demerits of the joint family system are as follows:
1. Hindrance in the development of personality:
One of the ugliest features of the joint family system is that it stands in the way of the development of the personalities of its members. It so happens that the oldest member very often assumes rulership. He, in virtue of his age, tends to look upon all others as mere children. He behaves with them accordingly.
As a result, the other members, though they are full-blown individuals, fail to develop their personalities in a natural way. They get dwarfed emotionally and intellectually. Furthermore, the youngsters in the joint family do not get enough scope to develop qualities like adventure, initiative, self- determination, industriousness etc.
One word of opposition or of self-assertion with dignity from the daughters-in-law is enough to set the house on fire literally. They are abused and even beaten by their husbands who are provoked to do so by their mothers. Mutual hatred and jealousy among the daughters-in-law leads to enmity among the brothers themselves. There is round-the clock infighting over the doings of children. Adults are compelled to spend their precious time in the setting of petty quarrels. The house gets divided against itself.
3. Source of litigation:
The joint family system encourages litigation. Normally disputes occur at the time of the partition of movable or immovable property. Often they assume serious proportions and ordinarily these are not settled without the intervention of the court of law. Moreover, the disputes involve colossal wastage of time, energy, money and more importantly loss of mental equilibrium.
4. Loss of privacy:
Privacy is practically absent in a joint family set-up. The newlywed couple hardly avail an opportunity to develop intimacy between them. This lack of privacy naturally leads to frustration and psychological disturbances. Again over crowdedness also has its baneful effects on the development of children.
5. The deplorable condition of women:
This is one of the major causes for the disintegration of joint family system. In the joint family, the daughters-in-law do not get any opportunity whatsoever to unfold their potentialities, talents etc. They are expected to serve the whole family like slaves. More often than not, they cannot afford to look after their own children for fear of censure etc. They can hardly meet their husbands during day time.
The position is no better at night. The husbands return home and either fall asleep or merely gratify sexual impulse with them without any emotional overtones to the act. Mothers-in-law do untold injustice to daughters-in-law. The other relatives make things even worse for the poor brides. This often leads to the very tragic phenomenon of commission of suicide. The husband-wife, mother-child relations become purely artificial without a touch of spontaneity about them.
6. Lethargy and Indolence:
Due to collective responsibility most members tend to be lethargic. The reason is simple. They get all the facilities, whether or not they work hard. The wives of the hard-working members instigate them not to exert themselves unnecessarily. The net result of all this is that while a few members do honest labour, the majority profit at their expense and do nothing but eat, sleep and bring forth offspring.
7. Uncontrolled procreation:
Since the responsibility of bringing up children is purely collective, individual parents do not feel the necessity of limiting the size of their families. Family planning does not confer any additional advantages on the practitioner in a joint set-up.
Nor does the member who earns more get any additional benefit there from. This has a highly depressing effect on such members and simultaneously, promotes irresponsibility among others. The upshot of it all is that they procreate children rather irresponsibly adding to the collective burden.
8. Child marriage:
Incidence of child marriage is quite high in case of the joint family. Factors like perception of marriage as a burden on the part of ‘Karta’ and the eagerness of the elderly people to see the marriage of their grandsons and granddaughters lead to child marriage. Child marriage not only affects the physical and mental health of the children but also contributes to the rapid growth of population.
9. Limits social mobility:
The joint family system hinders the process of social mobility. Factors like intimate familial ties and sentimental attachment of the members to the family limit social mobility.
10. Miserable economic condition:
Due to prevalence of many formidable factors such as the daily strife, the deplorable plight of women, absolute rule of elders, lack of responsibility on youngsters and blind procreation, the economic condition of the joint family becomes very dismal and miserable. Everyone in a joint family knows that whatsoever he spends will be managed by the family. He will, therefore, not try to save but will, on the other hand, spend to the maximum.
This is certainly an unhealthy practice pursued by some in a joint family set-up. Again, being joint responsibility common property is neglected and particularly nobody pays any care and attention to the landed property. Produce considerably comes down. There is no initiative and this result in lowering of standard.
11. Hinders social change:
The joint family system believes in conservative practices, status quo, customs and traditions. As such, the process of social change is arrested to a remarkable extent.
To sum up, the defects of the joint family far outweigh the advantages which accrue from it and have negative them. Consequently, the joint family is fast becoming disorganised. It is impossible to save the joint family system from disorganization, though its advantages can, with effort, be reinstituted in novel form in the nuclear families.