The authority fell into the father who was older than other members of the family, therefore, he was the wisest. The mothers taught their children to refer to the father as lord or my lord as a sign of respect and recognition of their place in the family.

Among the Indians there was a very strict monitoring of chastity. Only the highest-ranking leaders were allowed to interact with several women.

The Spanish conquest of Mexican territory meant the confrontation of two different cultures. The mixture of the races of each group produced diversity in the families, in their category, in their privileges and in their organization. For example, the father educated the children, the mother took care of the home and the eldest son received most of the family assets.

Because of the influence of the Christian religion, the men of the ruling class made their relationship with several women less evident than in prehispanic society.

Most of the families lived in rural communities with a population of less than 500 inhabitants. They were mainly engaged in agriculture, in which children participated, the women did all the work of the home, the man was still the authority in the family.

The authority of the father is less rigid than in the past. The mother acquired more power in the family. Woman joined the work in the industry, putting in judgment the traditional roles assigned to men and women, as well as the attitudes of submission and domain.

By the end of this century things changed a lot. In the decade of the 70's the average of children per family was eight and women continued to fulfill the role they already had, that of housewives. For the following decade the average had dropped from eight to five children per couple, however, the ninth years were a time that revolutionized everything that was already known. For example, women were leaving their roles and began to have more job opportunities. In addition, divorce rates skyrocketed and the average number of children dropped from 5 to 3.

The nuclear family known as the married man and woman, living in the same house with their immediate descendants is losing ground in the forms of family organization. The family structure have suffered transformations in the context of social, technological and political changes, becoming the contemporary family.

In this century we see how the tradition changes even more than in the previous century. People no longer marry and the family is created in free union. Couples have limited to having only 1 or 2 children at most, or no one.