Parents in Lithuania report a cool reception for children in public life
Lithuanian researchers and parent advocates say children are highly valued in principle, yet families often meet reluctance to accommodate them in daily life. How widespread this is has not been studied, and experts call for closer attention.
In Lithuania, children are widely regarded as important to a woman's fulfilment and to a successful marriage or partnership, but parents often meet a less welcoming reality in everyday life. A report by LRT English, the public broadcaster's English-language service, cites examples such as requests that guests leave their children at home when attending weddings, mothers breastfeeding in airport toilets, and criticism when a child cries in public. How common such attitudes are is hard to establish, because society's acceptance of children and families in daily public life has not been researched.
Parents' experiences
Giedrė Juškienė, founder and head of the nonprofit organisation Namų mama (House Mum), says it is difficult to generalise, but parents are not always made to feel welcome. In her view, some parents avoid certain places because they expect to be unwelcome. She described a dispute with neighbours over leaving her children's bicycles on the second floor of her apartment building, even though there was enough room to pass, while flowers in the stairwell were permitted. After about five years in Germany, she recalled both support when her child had a public tantrum and demands to silence crying children in a park.
Gediminas Karoblis, dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Vytautas Magnus University, has raised eight children with his wife and spent 15 years in Norway. He points to a growing practice of asking wedding guests to come without children. He also says parents who take time off to care for a sick child may be accused of failing to manage their personal lives.
Values versus daily life
Aida Savicka, a senior researcher at the Lithuanian Institute for Culture Research, says positive views of children do not necessarily mean willingness to accommodate them in public. Her co-authored monograph, based on European Values Study data from 1990 to 2017, found that traditional views of children remain strong, while younger generations stress individual choice more. A 2024 Save the Children Lithuania survey found that only 58% of respondents aged 14 to 18 felt able to be themselves in public spaces.
Savicka also notes that Lithuania is increasingly a country of one-child families, and that the number of children people want is generally higher than the number they have. She argues that financial incentives alone are unlikely to solve the problem, as early childhood education, flexible work and affordable housing also matter.
