- The Tiktok trend stay-at-home husband or stay-at-home boyfriend represents new role models in relationships.
- In the USA, more and more women are working, while some men are withdrawing from the labor market.
- New data shows that the employment rate of men is falling in the long term, while that of women is rising.
- There are also shifts in Switzerland: men here work part-time slightly more often than before.
He gets up in the morning, makes coffee, cleans up the kitchen, takes out the trash – and while she goes to the office, he stays at home. Sounds strange? But is increasingly present on Tiktok: the “stay-at-home husband”. Thousands of clicks and comments accumulate under the videos.
Employment rate decreased
The term is an expression of real change, because current data in the USA shows that more and more women are in the job, while some men are withdrawing from the labor market.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the labor force participation rate of men in their prime working age (25-54) has fallen significantly since the 1960s – from over 95 percent to around 88 to 89 percent.
New role models symbol
At the same time, women are catching up. According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), their labor force participation has been increasing for years, while that of men has stagnated in many places.
Could you imagine your partner or yourself staying at home and doing the housework while the other one works?
The labor market is not simply tilting in favor of women – it is shifting overall. And that’s exactly where the stay-at-home boyfriend or stay-at-home husband comes in: as a symbol for new role models.
Swiss men are more likely to work part-time
And Switzerland? In this country it is not quite so clear. There is no clear trend of men disappearing from the labor market en masse. But something is changing here too: men are working part-time more often than before.
How is it with you? Do you know such constellations? Do you live in a relationship where the man is at home more – by choice or for practical reasons? Or would you say it’s more of a Tiktok trend that doesn’t really work in real life? Write us your experiences in the form below.
Deborah Gonzalez (dgo) has been working at 20 Minuten since 2021. She is an editor in the Society & Community department.
