Family denotes a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some anthropologists[who?] have argued that one must understand the notion of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts rather than through genetic distance.

A conjugal family consists of one or more parents/guardians and their children. The most common form of this family is regularly referred to as a nuclear family.

A matrifocal family consists of a mother and her children. Generally, these children are her biological offspring, although adoption of children is a practice in nearly every society.

This kind of family is common where women have the resources to rear their children by themselves, or where men are more mobile than women.