The family is the most basic social unit in all of life. It is the foundation for all other relationships. Whenever the family suffers, then all of society suffers. It is obvious in our world today that the family unit is breaking down. Divorce is breaking apart husbands and wives, and parents and children.
Abuse is rampant within families today.
And abortion, the worst form of child abuse, is destroying children before they are born. We live in a generation that is committed to personal fulfillment, and when family interferes with fulfillment, it is the family that gets set aside. The command is stated positively, and is focused on the responsibility of the children. Everyone born on the face of the earth has a mother and a father. Your life came from them, and therefore you owe something to them.