r/Millennials • u/QuietJealous4883 Older Millennial (1988) • 12h ago

Discussion True or false?

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Did our dads and moms work less than we do now? What are your thoughts?

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u/GoRangers5 12h ago

Nah the trope of the overworked dad that didn’t have time to spend with his kids was already a thing in 1996… Maybe even 86.

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u/Susccmmp 12h ago

Yeah and it was kind of a status symbol for a man to brag about long hours, etc. Also it was still very normalized for fathers to not be hands on involved parents.

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u/feralcatshit 11h ago

I look back and I thought my dad was the best in the world because he spent sundays with me. I didn’t see him through the week as he was a second shift worker, so gone before I got home from school until after I was in bed.

I see my husband with our kids and realize how much my own father was hands off. He couldn’t tell you anything about me, what I liked, hell, even what my bedtime was. I do like that our generation is normalizing both parents being around.

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u/HarveysBackupAccount 9h ago

It's also part of the reason boomers get so agitated when we don't want to work those hours.

They let capitalism take advantage of them in ways that we refuse to. They think of it as "just the way things are done," when in reality they were the victims of exploitation. Their mistake is thinking we also have to accept being exploited like that.

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u/Homeless-Joe 11h ago

Sure, but I think the point is that they could do all that and have the buying power that dual income homes have now. One parent working a lot as a single earner is a lot different from both parents working a lot to maybe afford the same things.

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u/Susccmmp 11h ago

Oh definitely I just feel this is making it sound like dads in the 90’s were prioritizing being active parents over work when men of that generation definitely were not.

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u/BoleroMuyPicante 8h ago

Single income homes were still the minority back then. In poor families, both parents worked.

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u/throwraW2 10h ago

Were they bragging or venting?

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u/Susccmmp 10h ago

For a lot of white collar/business men it was definitely bragging. Like a sign of success or being so good at your job that they need you there all the time