Such families are sometimes called blended families. Let us suggest a simple definition of the family that can fit our time as well as biblical times. A family is a group of persons, normally including a parent or parents and children, who share the same household, are economically interdependent, and are bound together by traditional values and an enduring commitment to one another. Such a definition is uneven in that blood and legal relationships are not necessarily primary. Separated parents under joint custody may share children.
Economic interdependence can take various forms.
The length of an enduring commitment is not defined, although it is normally lifelong. But these tensions and uneven edges have been with the family household since biblical times. In the contemporary Western world political, economic and social changes have radically altered the traditional family. Largely rural before the 20th century, extended families supported family values. The 20th century has seen urbanization, multiculturalism, multimedia, mobility and globalization.