The family do play a role but it is for the bourgeoise (ruling class) not the family members
Engels 1884
Zaretsky 1976
Engels argued that family had a clear economic function for capitalism, by ensuring that wealth remained in the hands of the bourgeoise
Family relations, based on clear legal contracts facility inheritance and therefore when rich people die it is their children who keep a hold of the wealth
For Engels the family is all about bloodlines and proof of parenting
A variation of parsons warm bath theory, zaretsky argued that family life gave proletarian men something they could control and a space where they could be the boss. This provided a clear function for capitalism because it meant that workers would tolerate the powerlessness and frustration of being exploited at work because they had a private domain where they could take out their stress' and frustrations . Ties in with Ansley's Marxist feminist perspective that women are takers of shit
The Marxist system weaken the position of individual workers in relationship to the god
When a worker has to take dependants into account they are much more likely to not strike