Small groups for protection and social living would precede formal
arrangements of monogamy. Westermarck concludes that it was "for the
benefit of the young that male and female continued to live
together."[4] The importance of this consideration for us lies in the
thought of the overshadowing importance of this social group which we
now call the family. The family is the primary cell of society, the
first unit in social organization. Our thought must balance itself
between the importance of this social group, to be preserved in its
integrity, and the value of the home, with its varied forms of activity
and ministry, as a means of preserving and developing this group, the
family.

One hears today many pessimistic utterances regarding the modern home.
Some even tell us that it is doomed to become extinct. Without doubt
great economic changes in society are producing profound changes in the
organization and character of the home. But the home has always been
subject to such changes; the factor which we need to watch with greater
care is the family; the former is but the shell of the latter.

The character of each home will depend largely on the economic condition
of those who dwell in it. The homes of every age will reflect the social
conditions of that age. The picture in historical romances of the home
of the mediaeval period, where the factory, or shop, joined the
dining-room, where the apprentices ate and roomed in the home, where one
might be compelled to furnish and provision his home literally as his
castle for defense, presents a marked difference to the home of this
century tending to syndicate all its labors with all the other homes of
the community. Since the home is simply the organization and mechanism
of the family life, it is most susceptible to material and social
changes. It varies as do the fashions of men.