Someone asked me, what is family structure? Two parts: 1. Composition structure: refers to who is in the family, multi-generational, single-parent, blended, or other special structures. 2. Power and functional structure: how the family operates, who earns money, who makes decisions, who manages emotions, who is responsible for care and education, who controls resource allocation, who bears risk and responsibility. Family structure, in essence, is the sum of the ways power, responsibility, resources, and emotions are distributed within a family.