Urban women and men differ on nuclear families and childcare. Mint’s survey shows how.

The nuclear option

Around 35% of the survey’s 10,022 respondents, spread across 207 towns and cities, expressed a preference for nuclear families, and the traditional choice of living with the husband’s parents found slightly fewer takers. But the preference for nuclear families was heavily skewed towards the women, with 45% saying so, compared to only 26% of men. In fact, 39% of men believed couples should live with the husband’s parents, against just 24% of women. (About 10-12% of both men and women said they would rather live with the wife’s parents.) In south India, as many as 56% women picked nuclear families, and 35% of the men agreed.

This doesn’t mean women want to support parents any less, the survey showed. Nearly all women who picked a nuclear family setup said couples should live separately but close by, visiting and providing financial support often. The desire to support parents in old age—even by adjusting personal and job commitments—was equally strong among both genders.

These are the findings of the 13th round of a survey that Mint conducts online with survey partner YouGov India and Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research. It took place in March-April 2026. Around 53% of its sample were Gen Z (born during 1997-2008), and 34% were millennials (born during 1981-1996). The questions asked them for opinions, which may not reflect their individual realities.

A majority in all but one demographic group (millennial women, many of whom are likely raising children currently) said parents should handle childcare independently, without help from nannies or grandparents. Those over 45, who are likely past their child-rearing prime, were even more likely to say so (58%), while millennials were less likely to oppose external help (51%).

But across generations, women were more open than men to hiring nannies (29% vs 25%). This share was higher in south India, while 23% in northern and central states saw a role for grandparents in helping raise kids, the highest among all regions.

Asked who was involved in childcare duties in their households, as many as half of the men said they primarily did it themselves or shared it equally with their partners. But when the same question was posed to women, just 43% said their husbands were involved; 39% said they did it alone.

This suggests women perceive the imbalance to be far greater than men do: they are more likely to feel lonelier in the task than men acknowledge. This imbalance—and the mutual perception of it—was less among younger people, though only relatively.

Note that this question wasn’t about only caring for one’s own child, but any childcare duties needed in the household. Also, it’s not possible to compare men’s and women’s views within the same family since the survey gauged individual views, and was not a household-level survey.

Understandably, income plays a major role: support for premium senior communities rose with salary—from 59% among the lowest earners to 80% in the top bracket. The latter were also highly willing (87%) to adjust their lives to care for parents at home.

But satisfaction dipped for lower-income groups. Those earning above ₹2.5 lakh a month rated themselves 8.7 as parents and spouses, and 8.3 as children, while low-earners gave themselves lower ratings of 7.9, 8.0 and 7.0, respectively.

The trend suggests that economic security significantly shapes one’s sense of self-worth—or failure—within the family, particularly as a child trying to make one’s parents proud. Education plays a similar role, as those with higher degrees felt more satisfied with their performance in all three roles.

(This is the second part of a series about the findings of the 13th round of the survey. The first part covered parenting trends, and the next part will talk about attitudes about the wedding economy. Each round of the survey throws light on various aspects of the beliefs, choices, and anxieties of India’s young urban population. Note that these surveys are skewed towards urban, well-to-do netizens, with 90% of respondents falling under the top category (“A”) of the socio-economic classification (ISEC) used in market research. Full methodology note here.)