Seminar paper from the year 2021 in the subject Pedagogy - Family Education, grade: 1,2, language: English, abstract: This work deals with the emergence of family and marriage, different family forms and changes in these family forms and the effects of new global changes. This also includes clarifying possible misunderstandings. The first section of the paper discusses the exact difference between the two terms "marriage" and "family" and what exactly these two terms mean. Furthermore, the time of origin of marriage and family is discussed with regard to the different eras of the time, which range from the Middle Ages to the second half of the 20th century. The different eras show how the family and marriage have changed over the years. In addition, a distinction is made between marriage and family in law. The next sections deal with the functions of the family, changes in family forms and their causes since 1950 and trends for the coming decades. The effects of the new global changes are included here.