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Contrast essay
Family is a valuable property that provides not only shelter but also happiness for people. It is
undoubtedly that the world is full of diverse family cultural, especially the two dominant families culture
is western family culture and eastern family culture. Obviously, family life in western differs from family
life in eastern, but it still shows some similarities.

First of all, the family in western culture is particularly follow a nuclear family model comprised of only
parents and their children. On the other hand, the eastern family follows heavily on an extended
network of reciprocal relationships with parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles. A nuclear
model likely tends to have a small family size, and the western family may involve one to two children
while a typical family in the eastern world could have more than two children.

When it comes to making an important decision, parent in the western family is responsible for their
children and themselves, but the oldest family members play a critical role on decision-making in
eastern family. Furthermore, children who growth in western family are encouraged to have self-
thinking and self-decision maker though parents’ decision was still crucial. Different from western
culture, children in eastern rely on many of people’s decisions involved in family. They can not have
their own determination untill grandparents or parent accepted their desition. The old generation
believes on their experiences can give the children a good guidance.

In addition to the family model, it is very common in the western world that family kinship is bilateral.
For example, American kinship do not have much related to any father’s family and mother’s family.
Children are equally inherited all of the parental properties. In contrast, most of the eastern families
follow a patrilineal pattern that the belonging family is passed via the father’s side. Man accounting for
the dominant position in the eastern family that father is the main person to make a will. In Japan, a
father can disinherit his biological son and adopt another young man to be inhered his properties when
he did not willing to give to his biological son.

To conclude, it is the fact that there are distinctly different in the aspect of family culture between
western and eastern family; however, they still have the similarity regarding financial support in the
family. Generally, both parents work outside the home as the breadwinner to raise children and their
home. Although they have a different family culture, there is the only point that connects all the family
culture attempt to is the happiness of their family.