Overview
- King’s College London’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership released an analysis in mid-October combining four decades of British Social Attitudes data and the Genders and Generation Survey with a new poll of 1,000 women aged 18–34.
- Younger cohorts remain more progressive on gender roles, with about 10% of women and men in 2022 agreeing with a male-breadwinner/female-caregiver model and around 70–80% of young respondents favoring dual earning.
- The new survey reports that interest in tradwife content is driven largely by an aesthetic of simplicity and a desire for respite from demanding, insecure work rather than endorsement of traditional roles.
- The authors cite high childcare costs, inflexible schedules and “ideal worker” expectations as key pressures, noting many mothers leave jobs due to constraints rather than preference and face heightened economic insecurity.
- Researchers warn that without workplace and policy reforms, some women could be nudged toward restrictive family visions, even as online interest grows and the Cambridge English Dictionary added “tradwife” in 2025.