Stay-at-home ‘hub-sons’ are the tradwives of 2025 — and their moms couldn’t be more thrilled

Luke Parkhurst is surviving nan dream. And astatine astir 34 years old, he’s doing it jobless and rent-free astatine his mother’s location — a saccharine setup that mom, Patty, loves.

But nan millennial’s spongy life connected easy thoroughfare doesn’t travel arsenic a wholly free ride. Instead, it comes pinch nan homemaking duties of a stay-at-home-wife. Rather than loafing astir each day, eating bonbons and scrolling done societal media while Patty, a formation attendant, works, Luke’s taking attraction of business astir nan abode.

“I’m a stay-at-home son,” Luke, from Las Vegas, proudly told The Post. “I do nan market shopping, navigator steak for dinner, cleanable nan excavation and hole things astir nan house.”

His is an unpaid, unproblematic position that’s rising successful fame among nan Gen Z and Gen Y2K guys — called “trad-son” by some, or, “hub-son,” arsenic Patty calls Luke.

It’s a cushy gig akin to that of accepted housewives, aliases “tradwives.” They’re nan increasing number of joined gals, including celebrated folks for illustration Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farm, who’ve controversially forgone nan 9-to-5 regular grind to, instead, raise their families, handcraft home-cooked meals and support immaculate abodes. 

Trad-sons for illustration Luke — a erstwhile door-to-door star salesman, who ditched nan $170,000 vocation and moved backmost into Patty’s spot this summertime — aren’t conscionable leeching disconnected of mommy and daddy sans responsibilities. They’re earning their keep, doing housework and moving errands, successful bid to support their kept status.

It’s a Cinderella communicative successful reverse.

“This has been my dream occupation since I was a small kid,” said, claiming that nan domiciled was his go-to consequence to those “When I Grow Up, I Want To Be…” homework assignments successful simple school. “My mom is astatine activity correct now, she covers everything, and I enactment home.”

It’s bully work, if you tin get it. 

And unemployed guys worldwide — including high-profile stay-at-home-son Brendan Liaw, a caller “Jeopardy!” champion who talked astir his life pinch big Ken Jennings connected nan crippled show successful May — person sewage it good, acknowledgment to their overly accommodating folks. 

“It’s a beautiful bully gig, but I’m worried I’m going to beryllium called a loiterer astatine immoderate point,” said Liaw to Jennings, explaining that his perceived freeloading isn’t free. Instead, his trad-son occupation explanation requires him to support a battalion of aged aunts entertained — and to barroom nan aureate gals from roughhousing.

“I play pinch 3 retired aunts — we play gin rummy,” Liaw, of Vancouver, British Columbia, explained. “It’s grueling business. They’re cutthroat.”

Across nan country, astir 1 successful 3 adults, ranging successful property from 18 to 34, now unrecorded pinch their mothers and fathers, per caller US Census Bureau data.

And an April 2025 report via Pew Research revealed that men wrong that property scope are much apt to reside pinch their parents than women, partially owed to rising unemployment rates. 

Kathryn Smerling, an Upper East Side family therapist, says nan trad-son inclination isn’t a consequence of gentle parenting — an ultramodern, yet arguable child-rearing strategy that promotes appeasing kids complete showing them reliable love.  

The psychologist and author, instead, believes nan mooching disconnected of mom and dada activity is an effect of our troubled society, plagued by societal discord, a precarious occupation market, inflation and an ongoing lodging crisis. 

“There’s a batch of unrest successful men successful their 20s and 30s, today. There’s a batch of insecurity and instability. Most young group haven’t genuinely recovered themselves yet,” Smerling explained to The Post. “For some, it’s comforting to beryllium astatine home. They consciousness safe and unafraid pinch their parents successful a very conflictual world.”

But nan doc warns nan trad-son shtick should only beryllium a temporary, transitional shape alternatively than a semipermanent plan. And she says nan serene setup should instill lifelong values successful nan stay-at-home dudes.

“If a young man successful his isn’t working, he should beryllium doing nan laundry, cooking and cleaning,” Smerling instsed. “It teaches them captious life skills, which they tin use erstwhile they move retired connected their own.”

“This move doesn’t upset nan family system,” she added, “it strengthens it.”

Patty agrees. 

“It’s been a alleviation to person personification spell do nan market shopping and return retired nan garbage,” said nan mother of 4 — including a girl who became a multimillionaire successful her 20s, 1 boy who manages respective top-notch restaurants and different who useful arsenic a pilot.

Then there’s Luke.

“He’s my baby,” gushed Patty of nan 33-year-old, telling The Post she doesn’t mind covering each of their bills and family expenses. “I emotion taking attraction of group — and he has been really adjuvant [around nan house]. I telephone him my hub-son.”

She happily welcomed Luke backmost into nan nest successful July. He walked distant from nan rat title and returned location aft realizing his activity hard, play difficult regimen was taking a toll connected his intelligence wellness and wide well-being. 

“I was doing awesome financially, but nary of it was feeding my soul,” said Luke, who’s not keen connected abandoning nan trad-son manner anytime soon.

“Of people I don’t want to spell backmost to nan workforce,” Luke said. He did acknowledge, however, that he has already identified 1 very bully logic not to get excessively comfortable astatine home. “If I ever want to get into a relationship, I cognize I can’t show a woman, ‘By nan way, I person a roommate, and it’s my mom.’”

Unlike Luke, Abdullah Abbasi, a 24-year-old stay-at-home-son from Chicago, isn’t concerned pinch really his surviving business mightiness yet effect his emotion life. 

The Gen Zer is contented pinch nan emotion he gets astatine location — successful speech for doing immoderate ray housework, chauffeuring and administrative tasks. 

“My dada is simply a physician, truthful immoderate mornings I’ll thrust him to a gathering and return notes, aliases I’ll thrust my sister and her kids to different appointments,” Abdullah, who has remained unemployed and nether his parents’ tile since nan pandemic, told The Post. “My occupation is to make judge nan location runs smoothly.”

When nan trad-son isn’t down nan wheel, carting astir his family, he serves arsenic nan imaginative mastermind down his budding sportswear line, Stay At Home Sons — featuring nan cheeky tagline, “Doing thing is hard.”

“The apparel resonate pinch a batch of people,” said Abdullah of nan brand, which he and a pal established successful April 2024. “It’s each astir bringing [trad-sons] together done fashion.”

It’s an entrepreneurial pursuit he’s been capable to prosecute without nan distraction of hunting down full-time employment.

“I don’t person to interest astir paying bills, doing grunt activity aliases trying to spend housing,” said Abdullah. “I tin attraction connected what makes maine happy.”

And it’s a no-pay business that’s paying disconnected successful spades.

“I person friends who activity 80 hours successful bid to make large money and bask their independence,” continued Abdullah. “But this is nan preferred way for me.”

“This manner is simply a luxury.”