Divorce virtually does not exist in the family system of Indian society. This extraordinary cohesion is achieved by the belief systems governing marriages. As God wills, the marriages are made in heaven and the husband and wife are married for life in the family union and to foster the 'ancestral' legacy. The family protects, protects widows, provides support for the aged and infirm and is an insurance against unemployment. This is the reason why India does not have a social security system or unemployment insurance system.
Poor relations are as much respected as the rich ones without any snobbish sentiments.
A man or woman thus leads not his or her own life but the life of his or her family. The family is everything, the individual nothing. The joint family promotes early marriages. The marriage is a family responsibility and not an individual initiative. The rules of succession of property have resulted in an extreme fragmentation of holdings of land which has affected agricultural productivity.