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Question for Gen Z'ers about your family dynamic now or when growing up

Magna

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
I'm interested in hearing from anyone born after 1997 in relation to how you would describe the way you grew up or are growing up in relation to your role, position, contributions, etc in your family.

As someone born in 1997 or later, how do you contribute to your family now if you're still at home or how did you contribute to your family when you were growing up?

I'm interested in this because the "family" dynamic has changed significantly in the past 3-4+ generations as have the roles and the contributions of each member of the family. For example, many centuries ago when the majority of families in the U.S. were agrarian, families tended to be large with many children and the children worked alongside their respective parents on the farm from a young age (or in urban families who owned small businesses, alongside their parents in the family business). It was also not uncommon for even younger children to have some sort of job and contribute money to the family. Also, during those times, children often stayed in the same community to farm their own land, start their own families, etc. Nursing homes were not a thing so the adult children would care for their elderly parents.

Again, in present day, the family dynamic is nothing like I've described above in most all instances (obviously there are still a very small percentage of families in the U.S. that live that way. Amish people for example that are still agrarian, tradespeople, etc.

By "contribute" I'm asking about the different ways you did or you do assist your family overall in its functioning, home life, etc. For example:

> Do you have chores that you do regularly and automatically without being asked or reminded to do so? What kinds?
>Do you help your parents with any home projects (e.g. fixing things, maintenance, etc)?
> If you're now over 18 and still live at home, do you pay rent to your parents?
> If there are things in the home that need to be taken care of (e.g. emptying trash/recycling, folding and putting away laundry, doing laundry, cleaning, etc) do you automatically do those things without being asked or without it being "your job"?
>Do you help with cooking and doing dishes?

How did you or how do you contribute to your family as a member of your family?
 
I'm curious to see some of the responses in here too, good question @Magna . I grew up in the 60s and 70s, right on the cusp of massive societal change.

My sister and I did jobs around the house, often without needing to be reminded. Our younger brother didn't.
My sister and I had to pay board money when we started working, one sixth of whatever we earned. Our younger brother didn't.
My sister and I grew up to be very independent and capable people. Our younger brother didn't.
 
I'm curious to see some of the responses in here too, good question @Magna . I grew up in the 60s and 70s, right on the cusp of massive societal change.

My sister and I did jobs around the house, often without needing to be reminded. Our younger brother didn't.
My sister and I had to pay board money when we started working, one sixth of whatever we earned. Our younger brother didn't.
My sister and I grew up to be very independent and capable people. Our younger brother didn't.
my upbringing in the seventies was doing choirs in the barn with my brothers cleaning pens I had the maternity ward so lots of births late sixties was haying over the summer on neighboring dairy farm kept me in shape. Hard work does not bother me Why as a lab tech I did not mind making ink.
 
As a person who’s born in 1997, I think I’m allowed to answer this question

I no longer live with my parents, moved out a year and a half ago

I will admit: I haven’t contributed much to family. I do cook with them when I see them, which doesn’t happen often

I need to do better but as of right now, my life is good
 
So... I'm not from the USA... Can I reply anything to this or not?
Sure. Thank you for your input. As the OP I made reference to the U.S. specifically because that's where I was born and where I live; therefore I'm familiar with U.S. history and my own personal experiences. I know there are and there can be cultural differences in family dynamics and expectations in other parts of the world that can be different than in the U.S.
 
Sure. Thank you for your input. As the OP I made reference to the U.S. specifically because that's where I was born and where I live; therefore I'm familiar with U.S. history and my own personal experiences. I know there are and there can be cultural differences in family dynamics and expectations in other parts of the world that can be different than in the U.S.
Thanks for allowing me to respond.
I was born in 2003 and have always lived in Hungary.

I know it is sad but I do not help in any everyday chore/work at home where I live with my mother.
It's not that I can't help with easier tasks (although I don't know how to do more complex ones like cooking, etc.) but my mother never bothered with those expectations and my father always resisted any help.
Of course this does not mean my mother didn't start complaining (which I understand why) about all the work she has to do after their divorce. But we both get frustrated when this topic comes up. I want to help, she expects me to help, I was just never taught how and when because supposedly I was a "weird kid" who "didn't want to be taught like that" or some other pseudo-explanation. So she just does it all herself and tries to not mention it as often as she used to.

It's a situation which is hard to explain understandably, I guess.

I also hope this whole thing doesn't come across as an agressive trauma dump, lol. I had to delete a lot from this.

So based on the few statistics I found with some quick searches household work in Hungary is divided between men and women as equally as the EU average. If somebody can disprove or correct this statistics judgement for me, feel free to.
 

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