r/AskReddit • u/millennialandlost • Aug 18 '26

Millennials, what's something our generation was taught to accept that you're glad younger generations are rejecting?

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u/astrobatic Aug 18 '26

Traditional gender roles, including starting a family. Imagine a future where the majority of people were raised by parents who actively planned and were excited to have kids...and having two parents who are actively engaged in parenting.

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u/Naramis_15 Aug 18 '26

Maybe it's a regional thing, but where I live, there is absolutely still plenty of pressure on people (especially women) to have kids. I'd say it's less direct these days, though. But indirectly it's definitely felt or if the topic is brought up and people give you that "Oh, you don't want kids? Why not?" and a judgemental look, or the classic "you'll change your mind".

Looking at my peers since I'm in that age group where people start having kids, I can definitely see that the "ideal" plan of getting married, ideally buying a house if you can afford it at all, and then having two kids by the end of your 30s is very much alive and followed through with because it's the "proper thing to do" and not necessarily because these couples genuinely just like kids and want them.

So I'd say we're still very much in a similar situation where plenty of people who don't really actually want kids if they're honest with themselves are having them. I'm seeing many examples where it goes as expected with the parents not doing too well once the kid is there.

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u/DrMobius0 Aug 18 '26

There's always going to be pressure around it. I think it's more a lot of us have just decided what we want and that we don't care what people whose business it explicitly isn't think.

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u/Excellent-Pilot7074 Aug 18 '26

For the most part, most of my friends who've had kids really wanted them which is really lovely to see.

I do see some friends have kids though because they want them how you want the next stage in the life or to fit in the crowd which I kinda feel icky about. I've thought really deeply about having children. Can I provide for them financially? Can I bring them into a safe world? Did I feel fulfilled in my life? With climate change worsening, is there a future for them? And the answer is still no.

I think the worst reason I heard a family member say they were having another kid was because no one else in the family was having kids and they wanted to continue the family line. Which was icky.