Move over “trading wives,” because you might have some competition from “trading sons” for the latest viral craze.
The term “trad son” first made waves on TikTok in 2025, describing older sons who stay at home long after graduating from high school or college.
“There’s a lot of turmoil in men in their 20s and 30s, today. There’s a lot of insecurity and instability. A lot of young people haven’t really got it,” the family expert said. Kathryn Smerling he told The New York Post in October 2025. “For some, it is comforting to be at home, they feel safe and secure when they are with their parents in a conflict-ridden country.”
Soon, several of these so-called “sons of trade” began to popularize the term through numerous social media posts. Keep scrolling to learn more:
What is ‘Trad Son’?
The word “trad son” describes a child who continued to live with his parents until he became an adult to help with various household chores.
The movement gained momentum there Brendan Liaw it just keeps going Danger! in May 2025 when he was 28 years old, where he was introduced as a “stay at home son.”
“It’s a great gig, but I’m worried that I’ll be called an idler,” Liaw said. Vanity Fair in October 2025. “I dismissed it as a joke. I don’t want to be forever associated with unemployment forever.”
He added, “I think it’s fun to talk about what it’s like to be a young man, navigating the job market right now. I think it’s a lot different than it was for my parents or other generations.”
Liaw finally left home in 2025, moving to Canada to attend law school at the University of British Columbia.
Why Are Men Interested in Becoming ‘Sons of Trade’ for Independent Living?
Many social media users revealed their reasons for staying at home, often citing the rising cost of living as a major factor.
“I just wanted to,” Luke Jonathan Parkhurston the other hand, he told Vanity Fair in 2025. “I packed up and moved home and sold my house.”
Parkhurst, whose mother calls him a “homeboy,” starts his day by going to the gym while his mother walks the family dog. From there, Parkhurst picks up groceries at Costco before returning home to cook lunch for the two of them. He does other work later in the day.
“Even at school, when they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always wrote, ‘stay at home, son,'” he said with a laugh, revealing that he portrays a “truth seeker” but distanced himself from the traditional values of masculinity associated with the new figures of the Republic. “When they talk about, ‘Hey, this is what a man should do,’ I’m not saying they’re wrong, but I have different opinions about what I think a man should do.”
By Enitza Templeton/Instagram TikTok creator Enitza Templeton looks back on her time as what would now be considered a business woman. “This little dangling carrot to keep you from trying to be the best wife. She’s beautiful, she’s got kids, she’s off meds,” Templeton, 41, said in an interview. […]
Are ‘Trade Sons’ Related to ‘Trad Wives’?
The “trading wives” movement, associated with women who follow non-traditional gender roles in their marriages, has gained strength in popularity Hannah Neeleman again Nara Smith cooking home-cooked meals for their families and raising dozens of children. (Neleman and Smith, however, both deny any connection to the label.)
Trad’s sons are given the same name because they stay at home with the goal of dealing with the housework.
