What does the word family mean to you? An American study in 2006 showed that people today 1. Over 99% of the people who were interviewed agree that a husband, a wife, and a child are a family. At the same time, 94% see a parent with a child as a family, 91% say a husband and a wife, without children, are a family, and 81% think a man and a woman, with a child, but not married, are a family too.

The study also found that 2 is very important in the modern thinking on family. Though 81% think a man and a woman, not married, with a child, are a family, the percentage (%) drops to 40% if the couple doesn’t have a child. This is also true with same-sex couples. About 60% see two men, or two women, with a child, as a family, but only 32% think so when the couple doesn’t have a child.

In the study, those who see two men or two women that live together as a family often find it OK for same-sex couples to get married. 3. However, not everyone opens their arms to same-sex couples: the study said 30% have no problem seeing pets as part of one’s family, but they do not think a same-sex couple is a family.