Q & A

Subject: French families.

Question: I live in Canada, and I have few questions about how French families live, I was wondering if you would be able to help me. Are they nuclear families in one house or do they tend to live in extended families? What are the roles of the husband and wife. And are those roles changing. Thank-you and have great day.

Answer: I would say that the French, in small families tend to live in one house until the children get to get to adulthood. But in big families this could be different, my wife’s family was very big and because of this my wife who is one of the youngest lived her teen years with of one of her sisters. My wife’s family is very close with just about of them getting together on holidays. The French overall don’t send their kids to boarding school as much as might the English. Most French are educated, even with higher education, near their homes. As for the roles of husband and wife, I think in the past they tended to be very traditional with the woman staying at home and being a housewife. That is changing as more and more women work out of the home. Yet it is still the women that are the main child raisers, as most mothers and not fathers will take Wednesdays off, the weekday in France without any school. I hope I was able to answer your question.