We want what’s best for our family, but sometimes they don’t share our understanding of what that means.
A few days ago, healthcare worker and Reddit user MediaReady5519 turned to the platform for advice after finding herself worried about her younger sister’s situation.
Her sister married young and became a stay-at-home mom, relying almost entirely on her husband financially, and the Redditor doesn’t trust him with their future.
So she set up a savings account in case of a possible divorce, but doesn’t know whether to tell her about it or keep it a secret.
A nephew or niece is one of the best gifts your sibling can give you
Image credits: Aaaarianne / envato (not the actual photo)
So this woman wants to do everything to protect hers
Even though her sister says otherwise, the woman doesn’t believe her marriage is going to last
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits: MediaReady5519
This lifestyle definitely isn't for everyone
Last year, the term “tradwife” was added to the Cambridge Dictionary, defining it as “a married woman, especially one who posts on social media, who stays at home doing cooking, cleaning, etc., and has children that she takes care of. Tradwife is short for traditional wife.”
But the Redditor's position reflects a broader cautious sentiment toward it. A study from King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership found that the majority of young women do not plan to follow the path her sister has chosen.
When 1,000 women aged 18–34 were asked if they would take on a tradwife lifestyle, 29.4% said ‘definitely not’, followed by 27.1% who answered ‘probably not’. Just 7.8% said ‘definitely yes’.
Those who have already adopted the lifestyle can be seen on social media, sharing glimpses of their everyday life. However, only around one in five respondents felt online tradwife content is positive. The majority (59%) said that this content has a negative impact on society, with about 11% believing it’s very harmful.
Very few of the women surveyed liked the idea of men as chief decision makers and women as sole caregivers, and only a small proportion (17%) were attracted to having large families.
Some men also steer away from it
Image credits: Vitaly Gariev / unsplash (not the actual photo)
Paris-based Canadian writer and broadcaster Monica Ainley also has trouble buying into the lifestyle.
“Behind every tradwife is the influence of some outdated patriarchal value system,” she says. “What woman—what person, for that matter—would choose to play second fiddle to their partner if given another option? Or is it simply God behind all of this? (He is often involved in these sorts of shenanigans, to be fair.)”
A mom of two, Ainley even test‑ran the lifestyle herself, becoming a tradwife for a week and convincing her partner to play along.
But he disliked it as well. According to Ainley, he felt like an observer in the lives of his children rather than an active participant.
“While he admits he loved being cooked for, with his normal tasks—grocery shopping and obsessing over the apartment being tidy—taken care of, he felt a little rudderless after leaving the office,” she explains.
But does your objection to the lifestyle give you the right to forbid others from embracing it?
Most of the people who read the woman's story believe telling her sister about the savings account would be a mistake
