Traditional Family Structures In East Asia During The 20th Century

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Asia’s three sub regions all have different traditional family structures. In East Asia, which includes China, North and South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, families are traditionally male-dominated. A woman would often leave her parents after marriage and live with her husband’s parents if he is the first son. Women traditionally have little independence within the family, at least until they are past their childbearing years. However, with economic and social modernization, women in most East Asian countries now have greater independence than they did in the past. China stands out as having undergo a series of complete different social and political systems during the 20th century that have greatly changed family structure and the role of women in society. …show more content…
Young couples in the large lowland populations of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, typically establish their own independent households. Although most young couples establish a home of their own, some husbands may move in with his wife’s parents after marriage. However, in South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, a strong male-dominated family system prevails. Young women in most South Asian countries have little independence and when they get married, the bride’s parents pay a dowry to her husband’s family, which may be substantial. The burden of dowry payments puts economic pressure on the parents of daughters and makes more families prefer