Family values, sometimes referred to as familial values, are traditional or cultural values (that is, values passed on from generation to generation within families) that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideals. In the social sciences, sociologists may use the term "traditional family" in order to refer specifically to the child-rearing environment that sociologists formerly called the norm. This "traditional family" involves a middle-class family with a breadwinner father and a homemaker mother, raising their biological children. Any deviation from this family model is considered a "nontraditional family". Nontraditional families, nevertheless, make up the majority of American households, as of now.