The Financial Times has named the term “tradwife,” which comes from the phrase “traditional wife,” the word of the year for 2025.
The article defines a tradwife as “a housewife who enjoys housework, raising children, and subordinating herself to her breadwinner husband.”
Journalists attribute the popularity of this concept to the activity of American influencers on social networks. Among them is Anna Neelman, whose Instagram page has more than 10 million followers. The former ballerina publicly shows her life as a mother of eight children, talks about household chores, caring for her family, and cooking without processed foods.
The image of the “traditional wife” has also become part of the rhetoric of the MAGA movement, where it is presented as a symbol of a return to the past – a time when women were engaged in childbirth and raising children, and key decisions were supposedly made by men.
At the same time, the Financial Times notes that such an image is mainly conditional and does not always reflect the real behavior of its supporters. As an example, they cite Erica Kirk, the widow of the murdered activist Charlie Kirk. Despite her public commitment to “traditional values”, after the death of her husband, she headed the organization Turning Point USA, taking over the functions of CEO.
In addition, a study by King’s College London this year showed that interest in the image of a tradwife among young women is often associated not so much with a desire to give up a career, but with a passion for a calmer, less stressful lifestyle.