It is only in the last one hundred yeais that the custom of the nuclear family became widespread. Most of the immigrants to America, such as those from lrelnd and ltaly, also had the custom of the extended family, and when most Americans made their living as farmers, it was easy for the extendad family to stay together. However, since most people in industrial countries now work for sime kind of business,and since it is so common to a new city to get a good job, now people in yhese countries frequently live only with their own spouses and children.