A good question,
I think generally joint family se murad parents, wife/wifes childrens aur sath me brothers and their wife ye sab hain...
Pahly sochte joint family acha hain, hum saath saath hain, khush hain... but yeh serf ek assumption hain real life mei joint family mei jitna suffer kerna perta hain utna independent family mei nai hota...
because I was born and raised in a joint family I can easily say, daily you're gonna suffer different opinions, different likes and dislikes, too many complains, quarrels etc... bachelor life mei joint family mei aapke faislay serf aapke father nai, uncles and baki cousins bhi ker lete hain, ladki hoker school jane k lie sabke alug alug request kerne padegi kessi ek permission meli tu dusre ko request ager na ho so nai, phir shadi k baad mother in-law and father in-law k saath saath aap bade brother in-law ki her hukam mano jaisa vohi kahe vaisa voh kero jub k islam mei brother in-law bhi na muhharam hain, lekin humare yaha bade dewar ka buhut he ihteraam and respect k saath her sahi aur ghalat manni hain, thora sa bhi unke baato se alug kuch kiya tu buss taunts he sunne ko melenge, ek cheez k lie aapko puray khandan ka permission lena parega, husband k saath aap kuch extra time spend nai kersakte family ki maujudgi mei unse baat nai kersakte which is not fair at all.... maybe hum log 22th century mei rah rahe ho but still humare gher k qanoon 20th century k log jaise hote hain in a joint family...
independent family
parents and kids OR parents, husband and wife, kids ho : it's better than a joint family, bache ka perwarish ek peaceful manners in a peaceful envoirenment mei aap kersakte ho, husband k saath ache se time spend kersakte ho, jho joint family mei mushkil hain aur bhi kafi reasons hain but i think above mentioned reasons are enough...