There has been an increasing interest over the last years on the impact of migratory trends and other major socio-economic and cultural processes affecting the composition of families and households. An attempt will be made to analyse some of the processes that underline structural change within the Turkish family, specifically, what factors and forces change family types, and how these family types, in turn, affect other areas of individual behaviour and social action.

Socio-economic correlates of various family types ranging from patriarchal extended, transient extended to independent nuclear families and dissolved households, and the family life cycle through time will be examined. The process of family formation, rules of residence at marriage, marriage customs, intra-family relations with emphasis on gender relations and the status of women within the household will also be investigated.

The existence and prevalence of certain family types are closely related to the overall process of social and economic development. As Turkey displays large urban-rural and regional differences in several social and economic characteristics, findings presented will be based on empirical data from various large scale nation-wide surveys